§ Mr. Iain Millsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what guidelines exist covering the definition of cohabitation as applied by his Department to the consideration of benefit claims; and what is the availability of these to the public.
§ Mrs. ChalkerWe now refer to "living together as husband and wife" rather than "cohabitation". However, neither expression is defined in social security legislation. In supplementary benefit cases, decisions are made by the independent adjudicating authorities, applying the criteria set out in paragraph 2.12 of the "Supplementary Benefits Handbook," which is published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office and is widely available. The decision in each case is whether the relationship is such that the man and woman should be regarded as living together as husband and wife in the ordinary sense of the expression.
If my hon. Friend has a particular case in mind, perhaps he would write to me.