4.—(1) Where a claimant is entitled to income support for a period immediately preceding a period of temporary absence from Great Britain, his entitlement to income support shall continue during the first four weeks of that period of temporary absence only in the circumstances specified in paragraph (2).
(2) The circumstances in which a claimant’s entitlement to income support is to continue during the first four weeks of a temporary absence from Great Britain are that—
(a)the period of absence is unlikely to exceed 52 weeks; and
(b)while absent from Great Britain, the claimant continues to satisfy the other conditions of entitlement to income support; and
(c)any one of the following conditions applies—
(i)the claimant is not required to be available for employment under regulation 8(1) and Schedule 1 other than paragraph 5, 10, 18 to 20 of that Schedule (persons not required to be available for employment); or
(ii)he is not required to be available for employment under regulation 8(1) and paragraph 5 of Schedule 1 (incapacity for work) and his absence from Great Britain is for the sole purpose of receiving treatment from an appropriately qualified person for the incapacity by reason of which he is not required to be so available; or
(iii)he is in Northern Ireland; or
(iv)he is a member of a couple and he and his partner are both absent from Great Britain, and a premium referred to in paragraph 9, 10, 11 or 13 of Schedule 2 (applicable amounts) is applicable in respect of his partner.