Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002

PART IIPRIMARY PROVISIONS

CHAPTER IMEMBERSHIP

Eligibility for active membership

General eligibility for membership: employees of Scheme employers etc.

3.—(1) A person may only be an active member if this regulation, or regulation 4 enables him to be one and he is not prevented by regulation 5.

(2) A person may be a member if he is employed by a Scheme employer.

(3) A Scheme employer is a local authority as defined in Article 2 of the Order of 1972(1).

Agreements to enable employees of non-Scheme employers to be members (“admission agreements”)

4.—(1) The Committee may make an admission agreement with any admission body and such an agreement may provide that a period of employment by the admission body before the date of the agreement counts as membership of the Scheme (or does so for some purposes).

(2) An admission agreement is an agreement that all or any specified class of the admission body’s employees may be members.

(3) The following are admission bodies –

(a)a body which provides a public service in the United Kingdom otherwise than for the purposes of gain and which either –

(i)has sufficient links with a Scheme employer for the body and the Scheme employer to be regarded as having a community of interest, whether because the operations of the admission body are dependent on the operations of the Scheme employer or otherwise, or

(ii)is approved by the Department for the purpose of admission to the Scheme;

(b)a body to the funds of which any Scheme employer contributes;

(c)a body to which any monies are payable from monies appropriated by or under an enactment as defined in section 98(1) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998(2);

(d)a body representative –

(i)of local authorities, or

(ii)of local authorities and officers of local authorities, or

(iii)of officers of local authorities, or

(iv)of Scheme employers;

(e)a statutory undertaker;

(f)a non-statutory undertaker;

(g)the managers of a voluntary school within the meaning of Article 2(2) of the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1986(3);

(h)the governing body of an institution of further education within the meaning of the Further Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1997(4); and

(i)a body which provides services or assets referred to in a transfer arrangement.

(4) An admission body referred to in paragraph (3)(d)(iii) is only an admission body if it is formed for the purpose of consultation as to the common interests of local authorities and the discussion of matters relating to local government.

(5) Approval under paragraph (3)(a)(ii) may be subject to such conditions as the Department thinks fit and it may withdraw approval at any time if such conditions are not met.

(6) It must be a term of an admission agreement made with a non-associated admission body within sub-paragraphs (b) and (c) of paragraph (3) that the body which provides the funding or from which monies are appropriated (and, if more than one, all of them) guarantees the liability of the admission body to pay all amounts due from it under the Regulations.

(7) In the case of an admission agreement with a transferee admission body –

(a)the transferor Scheme employer, if not the Committee, must be a party to the admission agreement;

(b)only those employees of the transferee admission body who are employed in connection with the provision of the services or assets referred to in the transfer arrangement are eligible to be members of the Scheme;

(c)the admission agreement shall require an indemnity or bond in an approved form and with an authorised insurer or a relevant institution; and

(d)provision shall be made for the matters set out in Schedule 2.

(8) Where a transferor Scheme employer and a transferee admission body undertake to meet the requirements of paragraph (7), the Committee must admit to the Scheme the eligible employees of the transferee admission body specified by that body and, where it does so, the terms on which it does so are the admission agreement for the purposes of these Regulations.

(9) An admission agreement must terminate if the admission body ceases to be such a body.

(10) An admission agreement may make such other provision about its termination as the parties to the agreement consider appropriate.

(11) When the Committee makes an admission agreement, it must promptly inform the Department of the date on which the agreement takes effect, the admission body’s name and, in the case of an admission agreement with a transferee admission body, the name of the relevant transferor scheme employer.

(12) The Committee must notify the Commissioners of Inland Revenue of the admission of an admission body within the time prescribed in regulations made under section 605 of the Taxes Act(5) and provide such information as may be so prescribed.

(13) Any question which may arise between the Committee and any other party to an admission agreement relating to the construction of the agreement or to the rights and obligations under that agreement shall be referred in writing for determination to the Department.

(14) An employee of an admission body may not be a member if he is a member of another occupational pension scheme (within the meaning of section 1 of the Pension Schemes (Northern Ireland) Act 1993(6)) other than where the accrual of benefits under that pension scheme would not affect approval of the Scheme as an approved scheme.

(15) These Regulations apply to employment with an admission body in which the employee is a member in the same way as if the body were a Scheme employer.

(16) In this regulation, regulation 5 and in Schedule 2 (where applicable) –

(a)“authorised insurer” means –

(i)a person who has permission under Part IV of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000(7) to effect or carry out contracts of insurance, or

(ii)an EEA firm of the kind mentioned in paragraph 5(d) of Schedule 3 to that Act, which has permission under paragraph 15 of that Schedule (as result of qualifying for authorisation under paragraph 12 of that Schedule) to effect or carry out contracts of insurance;

(b)“indemnity or bond in an approved form” means an indemnity or bond to meet a level of risk exposure arising on premature termination of the transfer arrangement actuarially assessed to the satisfaction of the Committee and the transferor Scheme employer if not the Committee;

(c)“non-associated admission body” means a body described in –

(i)paragraph (3)(a)(ii),

(ii)paragraph (3)(b) where, at the date that the admission agreement is made, the contributions paid to a body by any one or more Scheme employers equal in total 50% or less of the total amount it receives from all sources, or

(iii)paragraph 3(c);

(d)“a non-statutory undertaker” means a body who, though not authorised by any statutory provision to do so, is primarily engaged in carrying on –

(i)any railway, light railway, road transport, water transport, canal, inland navigation, dock, harbour or pier; or

(ii)any undertaking for the promotion of industrial development or the promotion of the development of tourist traffic;

(e)“relevant institution” means –

(i)a person who has permission under Part IV of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 to accept deposits;

(ii)an EEA firm of the kind mentioned in paragraph 5(b) of Schedule 3 to that Act which has permission under paragraph 15 of that Schedule (as a result of qualifying for authorisation under paragraph 12 of that Schedule) to accept deposits; or

(iii)a person who is exempt from the general prohibition in respect of accepting deposits as a result of an exemption order made under section 38 (1) of that Act;

(f)“a statutory undertaker” means a body authorised by any statutory provision to carry on –

(i)any railway, light railway, road transport, water transport, canal, inland navigation, dock, harbour, or pier; or

(ii)any undertaking for the promotion of industrial development or the promotion of the development of tourist traffic;

(g)“transferee admission body” means an admission body described in paragraph (3)(i);

(h)“transfer arrangement” means a contract or other arrangement made with a transferor Scheme employer for the provision of, or making available of, services or assets, for the purposes of or in connection with the exercise of a function of that transferor Scheme employer; and

(i)“transferor Scheme employer” means an authority or body which is a Scheme employer or an admission body.

(17) The definitions of “authorised insurer” and “relevant institution” in paragraph (16) must be read with –

(a)section 22 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000;

(b)any relevant order under that section; and

(c)Schedule 2 to that Act.

Further restrictions on eligibility

5.—(1) If a person’s employment entitles him to belong to another statutory pension scheme, that employment does not entitle him to be a member, unless that other scheme was made under Article 9 of the Order of 1972.

(2) A statutory pension scheme is an occupational pension scheme provided by or under an enactment.

(3) A person may not become a member after his 65th birthday.

(4) Part-time employment as a member of a fire brigade maintained in pursuance of the Fire Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1984(8) on terms under which the employee is or may be required to engage in fire fighting does not entitle the employee to be a member of the Scheme.

(5) Any person who as a member of staff of the University of Ulster is eligible to participate in the Universities' Superannuation Scheme is not entitled to be a member of the Scheme.

(6) A person who is a member and is an employee of a transferee admission body is treated as leaving a local government employment when he ceases to be employed in connection with the services or assets referred to in the transfer arrangement.

Joining and leaving the Scheme

Joining the Scheme

6.—(1) A person who wishes to become an active member must apply in writing to his employer or future employer.

(2) An eligible person who applies before he begins his employment becomes a member when his employment begins unless he applies to join later.

(3) An eligible employee who applies becomes a member on the first day of the first payment period following the application.

(4) A payment period is a period of service to which the employee’s wages or salary payment relate.

(5) An employee is deemed to have applied to become a member, unless he notified his employer in writing that he did not wish to do so –

(a)before his employment began; or

(b)if he only became eligible to be a member later, before the date he became eligible.

(6) But paragraph (5) does not apply –

(a)to casual employees; or

(b)to former members who opted to leave the Scheme by a notification under regulation 7.

(7) An application for membership may be withdrawn before membership begins.

(8) A former active member may reapply for such membership.

(9) But a person who has given more than one notification under regulation 7 may only reapply again if –

(a)his employer or future employer consents; or

(b)he is beginning a new employment with a new employing authority and he reapplies before he has been employed for three months; or

(c)he is a person about whom information may be given under Article 164(1) of the Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1995, as it has effect in the case of the Scheme.

Leaving the Scheme

7.—(1) A person stops being a member if he ceases to be eligible for membership.

(2) A person may leave the Scheme if he wishes but must notify his employer accordingly in writing.

(3) A member who gives such a notification stops being a member from the date the notification specifies.

(4) But, if a date earlier than the notification or no date is specified, he stops being a member at the end of the payment period during which the notification is given.

(5) Where notification is given by a person before he has been a member for three months, he must be treated as not having been a member in that period.

CHAPTER IICOUNTING MEMBERSHIP FOR THE SCHEME

Periods of membership: “total membership”

8.—(1) The following periods count as periods of membership –

(a)any period for which a member has paid (or is treated as having paid) contributions under regulation 11, 16 or 17 or 88(5);

(b)any period during which a member is away from work because of illness or injury;

(c)any period which a member is entitled to count as membership under –

(i)Chapter II or III of Part III, or

(ii)regulation 125(1) (periods credited on payment of transfer values);

(d)in the case of a member who belonged to the Scheme before the commencement date, any period he is entitled to count under the Transitional Regulations.

(2) For most purposes a member’s “total membership” is the total of the periods he is entitled to count under paragraph (1), disregarding any period which would otherwise count twice (but see regulations 9, 10 and 34, Schedule 4 and the Transitional Regulations).

(3) A person may not count any period of membership if his contributions for that period have been returned to him and, if all his contributions to the fund are returned to him, he may not count any period of membership credited to him on the receipt of a transfer value.

(4) A person may not count any period of membership if his rights in respect of it have been transferred to a non-local government scheme, a personal pension scheme, a self-employed pension arrangement, a retirement annuity contract or an appropriate policy by payment of a transfer value.

(5) Where a person pays contributions under regulation 17(3) (trade disputes) for any period, that period counts as a period within paragraph (1)(a) even if his contract of employment did not subsist throughout that period.

(6)  Periods of membership before and after any unpaid period of maternity absence or period of parental leave in respect of which the member does not pay any contributions shall be treated as continuous.

Excluded membership

9.—(1) Superannuable membership does not count towards the membership period required before a person is entitled to any benefit.

(2) Superannuable membership is –

(a)any period of added years; and

(b)any additional period of membership which counts as such by virtue of Chapter II of Part III.

(3) The Table in Schedule 3 sets out other sorts of membership which do not count for some purposes.

(4) The first column of that Table describes the membership and the second column specifies the purposes for which such membership does not count.

(5) That Table has effect subject to the notes at the end.

Length of period of membership: calculation of benefit

10.—(1) In calculating the amount of any benefit, fractions of years of membership count.

(2) The numerator of such fractions is the number of complete days of membership and 365 is the denominator.

(3) Membership in part-time service is counted as the appropriate fraction of the duration of membership.

(4) The numerator of that fraction is the number of contractual hours during the part-time service and its denominator is the number of contractual hours of that employment if it were on a whole-time basis.

(5) Paragraph (3) does not apply in determining a member’s total membership for regulation 30(1) (entitlement to ill-health enhancement) (and see regulation 30(6) to (10) as to the determination of the enhanced membership period in such cases).

CHAPTER IIICONTRIBUTIONS

Members' contributions

11.—(1) Each member shall make contributions to the Scheme at the standard contribution rate on his pay in each employment in which he is an active member (but see regulation 14).

(2) The standard contribution rate for a member is six per cent., unless he is a member with lower rate rights in accordance with regulation 13(2) or (3).

(3) The standard contribution rate for a member with lower rate rights is five per cent.

(4) A person who is an active member in more than one employment must make contributions for each of those employments.

(5) The Committee may decide the intervals at which the contributions are made.

(6) For this regulation any reduction in pay by reason of the actual or assumed enjoyment by the member of any statutory entitlement during any period away from work shall be disregarded.

(7) Regulations 15 to 17 affect this regulation.

Meaning of “pay”

12.—(1) An employee’s pay is the total of –

(a)all the salary, wages, fees and other payments paid to him for his own use in respect of his employment; and

(b)any other payment or benefit specified in his contract of employment as being a pensionable emolument.

(2) But an employee’s pay does not include –

(a)payments for non-contractual overtime;

(b)any travelling, subsistence or other allowance paid in respect of expenses incurred in relation to the employment;

(c)any payment in consideration of loss of holidays;

(d)any payment in lieu of notice to terminate his contract of employment;

(e)any payment as an inducement not to terminate his employment;

(f)any amount treated as the money value to the employee of the provision of a motor vehicle or any amount paid in lieu of such provision.

(3) For regulation 11, the pay of a part-time employee for any period is the pay he would have received if during that period he had worked the contractual hours.

(4) But paragraph (3) does not apply to periods during which the employee was away from work by reason of illness or injury with reduced or no pay.

(5) If a Scheme employer agrees with the bodies or persons representative of any description of employees the method for determining the whole or a specified part of the pay of employees of that description for the period during which the agreement applies, the pay of a member who is such an employee is the amount so determined.

(6) A Scheme employer must notify in writing every member affected by such an agreement.

(7) A notification to a member under paragraph (6) must include a conspicuous statement as to the place where he may obtain information about details of the agreement.

(8) No sum may be taken into account in calculating pay unless income tax liability has been determined on it.

Members with lower rate rights

13.—(1) A member has lower rate rights for regulation 11 if he falls within paragraph (2).

(2) A member falls within this paragraph if –

(a)immediately before the commencement date he was entitled to contribute to the Scheme at the rate of five per cent; and

(b)since that date either –

(i)he has remained in continuous employment in the same capacity and a member, or

(ii)he falls within paragraph (3).

(3) A member falls within this paragraph if he is –

(a)a continuously-employed manual worker who immediately before the commencement date was in a local government employment in which he was entitled to contribute to the Scheme at the rate of five per cent. by reason of being a manual worker; or

(b)a statutory transferee who was so entitled immediately before he left the Scheme on statutory transfer and has applied to his employing authority to continue to be so entitled before the expiry of the period of 30 days beginning with the date he rejoins the Scheme or such longer period as that authority may allow.

(4) A continuously-employed manual worker is a person –

(a)who on or after the commencement date has been transferred from the employment he held immediately before that date to another local government employment which is described by his employer as a manual employment; or

(b)who on or after that date has been transferred more than once and all of whose employments since that date have been local government employments which are so described.

(5) A statutory transferee is a person who –

(a)left the Scheme by reason of his employment being transferred by virtue of an enactment to a person who was not a Scheme employer; and

(b)has rejoined the Scheme on a further transfer by virtue of an enactment to a person who is a Scheme employer and for whom he is employed in the same capacity as that in which he was employed immediately before he left the Scheme.

(6) For this regulation whether a person’s employment is continuous must be determined in accordance with Chapter III of Part I of the Employments Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996(9) but any period not exceeding one month and one day when he is not employed may be disregarded.

Employer’s discretion to reduce member’s contribution rate

14.—(1) The employing authority of a person who is an active member in its employment and has a total membership in local government employment of at least 40 years may by resolution determine that he should not be liable to make contributions to the Scheme on his pay in its employment or should only be liable to make them at a rate less than the standard contribution rate.

(2) The member’s liability is reduced or, as the case may be, extinguished in accordance with the resolution at the expiry of the period of one month beginning with the date on which it is passed.

(3) But for these Regulations the member shall continue to be treated as paying the contributions under regulation 11 for which he would otherwise be liable.

(4) For paragraph (1) membership counts as membership in local government employment unless –

(a)it is a credited period counted under regulation 125 (periods credited on inward transfer); or

(b)the member was entitled to count it under any corresponding earlier provision and he is entitled to count it under regulation 8(1)(d).

Inland Revenue limits on contributions

15.—(1) A Class A member may not pay contributions on any pay exceeding the Revenue permitted maximum.

(2) The total contributions to the Scheme and any other approved occupational pension scheme or approved personal pension scheme by a person in any tax year in respect of any employment in which he is a member must not exceed 15 per cent. of his remuneration for that year in that employment.

(3) An occupational pension scheme or personal pension scheme is approved if it has been approved by the Commissioners of Inland Revenue under Part XIV of the Taxes Act.

Obligatory contributions during absences

16.—(1) If a member –

(a)is away from his employment with permission (otherwise than because of illness or injury) for a continuous period of less than 31 days or away on jury service for any period; and

(b)is receiving reduced pay or no pay,

he must make contributions at the standard contribution rate on the pay he would have received during that period but for his absence.

(2) If a person who is a member or has applied to be a member goes on maternity leave, she must make contributions at the standard contribution rate, as respects any part of her period of maternity absence for which she is a member and entitled to receive pay (including any statutory maternity pay payable to her under the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992(10), on that pay.

(3) That pay includes any such statutory pay but not any amount by which her actual pay is reduced on account of her possible entitlement to such statutory pay.

(4) If a person who is a member or has applied to be a member –

(a)goes on ordinary maternity leave; and

(b)is not entitled to receive pay (including statutory maternity pay payable to her under the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act (Northern Ireland) 1992) for all or any part of that period of leave,

for these Regulations she shall be treated as if she had paid contributions under paragraph (2) for the unpaid period of that ordinary maternity leave and on the pay that she would have received during that period but for her absence.

(5) If a person who is a member or has applied to be a member goes on reserve forces service leave, he must pay contributions under regulation 11 and any payments under Chapter III of Part III which he was paying immediately before his relevant reserve forces service began, if (and only if) during that service his reserve forces pay equals or exceeds the pay he would have received if he had continued to be employed in his former employment.

(6) Those contributions continue to be payable to the fund at the same rates on that pay.

(7) If he is not obliged to pay contributions under paragraph (5), for these Regulations he is treated as if he had paid them and also any payments under Chapter III of Part III which he would have been liable to pay if he had continued to be employed in his former employment.

(8) If a person who is a member or has applied to be a member goes on reserve forces service leave –

(a)he may continue to pay any contributions under Chapter IV of Part III (AVCs and SCAVCs) which he was paying immediately before his leave began;

(b)he may opt to discontinue payment under that Chapter; and

(c)unless he has opted, the Committee must continue throughout the period of his relevant reserve forces service leave to pay any such contributions which were to be used to provide benefits for him on his death.

(9) If a person who is a member or has applied to be a member goes on reserve forces service leave –

(a)his relevant reserve forces service counts as a period of membership in his former employment; and

(b)if during that service, he dies, attains his normal retirement age or becomes incapable for health reasons of working efficiently in local government employment, he shall be treated as if he were in that employment at that time.

Optional contributions during absences

17.—(1) If a member –

(a)is away from his employment with permission (otherwise than because of illness or injury) for a continuous period of more than 30 days; and

(b)is receiving reduced or no pay,

he must make contributions under regulation 16 at the standard contribution rate for the first 30 days and may make contributions under that regulation for the remaining period of his absence or, if the total period of his absence exceeds 36 months, for 36 months including the first 30 days, on the pay he would have received but for his absence.

(2) If –

(a)a person who is a member or has applied to be a member is on maternity leave, other than ordinary maternity leave; and

(b)for the whole or part of the period of her maternity absence (“the unpaid period”) she is not entitled to receive pay (including any statutory maternity pay payable to her under the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992) but is a member,

she may make contributions under regulation 16 at the standard contribution rate as respects the unpaid period, as if her pay in the employment were equal to the pay she was entitled to receive immediately before the unpaid period began (including any such statutory pay, but not any amount by which her actual pay is reduced on account of her possible entitlement to such statutory pay).

(3) If a person –

(a)is away from work without permission for a period of one or more days during and because of a trade dispute (“a trade dispute absence”); and

(b)was a member immediately before that period (or, where two or more periods of absence have occurred because of one such dispute, the first such period),

he may make a contribution under regulation 16 for the relevant contribution period at the rate of 16 per cent on his lost pay for that period.

(4) A person’s lost pay is the difference between –

(a)his actual pay (if any); and

(b)the pay he would have received but for any trade dispute absence,

(disregarding any guarantee payments under Part V of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996).

(5) A period is a person’s relevant contribution period if –

(a)it is coextensive with one of the intervals at which he was required under regulation 11 to make standard contributions; and

(b)it includes all or part of his trade dispute absence.

(6) To make contributions under this regulation a person must apply to the employing authority in writing before the expiry of the period of 30 days beginning with the day on which he returns to work or such longer period as the Committee may allow.

(7) But if he ceases to be employed by that authority without returning to work, he may apply under paragraph (6) before the expiry of the period of 30 days beginning with the day he so ceases or such longer period as the Committee may allow.

(8) An application under paragraph (6) or (7) may be made by the person’s personal representatives if he has died without having made such an application.

(9) The termination of a person’s contract of employment because of a trade dispute does not prevent this regulation applying to him if he again becomes an employee of the same Scheme employer and a member not later than the day after the dispute ends.

CHAPTER IVBENEFITS

Preliminary

General qualification for benefits

18.—(1) Membership of the Scheme only entitles the member to benefits under this Chapter if –

(a)his total membership is at least two years;

(b)a transfer value is credited to him; or

(c)neither paragraph (a) nor (b) applies and he –

(i)has attained state pensionable age; or

(ii)will attain that age before the following 6th April.

(2) But paragraph (1) does not apply –

(a)to a benefit under regulation 26 (normal retirement) in a case where the member’s normal retirement date is his 65th birthday or under regulation 29(2) (ill-health grants); or

(b)to benefits in respect of a member under regulation 41 (death grants), regulation 42 (surviving spouse’s short-term pension), regulation 47 (children’s short-term pensions) or regulation 48 (children’s long-term pensions).

Calculations

19.—(1) The amount of any benefit payable as a result of a person’s membership is generally calculated by multiplying his final pay by the appropriate multiplier.

(2) Unless another multiplier is indicated, the appropriate multiplier for a pension is –

(3) Unless another multiplier is indicated, the appropriate multiplier for a retirement grant is –

(4) But –

(a)benefits payable to a pension debit member are reduced as provided in regulation 20; and

(b)benefits payable on or after the death of a pensioner member are calculated by multiplying the amount of his former retirement pension by the multiplier specified for the benefit in question.

(5) Unless otherwise indicated, references to the amounts of pensions are to their annual rate.

(6) The amount of a deceased person’s former retirement pension is the amount of the pension he would have received immediately before his death, but for –

(a)regulation 31 (re-employed pensioners);

(b)regulation 33 (elections for early payment);

(c)regulation 36 (surrenders);

(d)regulation 52 (commutation in cases of exceptional ill-health);

(e)regulation 56 (effect of increases under Chapter II of Part III for older members);

(f)regulation 59 (effect of increases under Chapter III of Part III for older members); or

(g)regulation 113 (application of abatement policy in individual cases).

(7) Periods are measured in years and fractions of a year (calculated as specified in regulation 10).

(8) A pensioner member includes a person who would have been entitled to a pension but for regulation 113 (application of abatement policy in individual cases).

(9) But paragraph (8) does not stop a person to whom it applies from also being an active member.

Pension debit member

20.—(1) The benefits payable to a pension debit member shall be reduced to take into account the debit to which the shareable rights of the pension debit member are subject under a pension sharing order.

(2) The amount of the reduction shall be calculated in accordance with guidance issued by the Government Actuary.

Replacement of rights

21.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), a pension debit member who is an active member may not replace any rights debited as a consequence of a pension sharing order with any rights which the member would not have been able to acquire (in addition to the debited rights) had the pension sharing order not been made(11).

(2) The provisions of paragraph (1) shall not apply in circumstances which the Commissioners of Inland Revenue may stipulate in relation to “moderate earners” in any taxation exception or concession made by them from time to time under paragraph 18(10) and (11) of Schedule 10 to the Finance Act 1999(12), or otherwise.

(3) For the purpose of this regulation, “moderate earners” has the meaning in paragraphs (4) to (6) of regulation 5 of the Retirement Benefits Schemes (Sharing of Pensions on Divorce) Regulations 2000(13).

Final pay

22.—(1) A member’s final pay for an employment is his pay for as much of the final pay period as he is entitled to count as active membership in local government employment (but see paragraphs (3) to (11), regulations 23 and 24(2) and Schedule 4).

(2) A member’s final pay period is the year ending with the day on which he stops being an active member (but see paragraph (10) and regulations 23 and 24).

(3) In the case of part-time employment, the final pay is the pay which would have been paid for a single comparable whole-time employment.

(4) But in calculating death grant or the rate of surviving spouse’s or children’s short-term pension payable on the death of an active member, actual pay in part-time employment is to be used, or, in calculating death grant, three eightieths of final pay multiplied by total membership if greater.

(5) Any reduction or suspension of a member’s pay during the final pay period because of his absence from work owing to illness or injury must be disregarded for this Chapter.

(6) If a member’s final pay period includes reserve forces service leave, his final pay is –

(a)in a case where he has paid contributions by virtue of regulation 16(5), the amount it would have been if his reserve forces pay were pay received in his former local government employment; or

(b)otherwise, the amount it would have been if he had continued to be employed in his former employment during the period of that leave.

(7) For the purposes of this Chapter, a member’s pay for any period of maternity absence during the final pay period in respect of which she pays or is treated as paying contributions is the pay she would have received had she not been absent.

(8) If a member is absent from work for any other reason during his final pay period, he is only to be treated for this Chapter as having received the pay he would otherwise have received if he has made the appropriate contributions under Chapter III for the period he is absent.

(9) If in any case where regulation 12(5) (collective pay agreements) applies to a member’s pay during any part of the final pay period –

(a)his average weekly earnings from his local government employment in that period (other than payments for overtime and bonuses) –

(i)exceed by more than 50 per cent. the lower earnings limit at the end of that period, and

(ii)do not exceed the upper earnings limit at the end of that period; and

(b)his final pay would be greater if determined using those earnings,

it is to be determined using them.

(10) If a member is only entitled to count part of the year specified in paragraph (2) as a period of active membership in relation to the employment which he ceases to hold, his final pay is his pay during that part multiplied by 365 and divided by the number of days in that part.

(11) Final pay does not include any pension in payment.

Other final pay periods

23.—(1) Where the whole or part of a member’s pay consists of fluctuating emoluments, his final pay period for them is not the period specified in regulation 22(2) but –

(a)the period of three years ending with the last day he was an active member; or

(b)any other period he may with the consent of his employing authority elect, being a period of not less than three nor more than five years –

(i)ending with a day which is that last day or of which that last day is the anniversary, and

(ii)falling within the period of 13 years ending with that last day.

(2) But if he was only entitled to receive fluctuating emoluments during part of the period mentioned in paragraph (1)(a), that part is substituted for the period referred to in that paragraph.

(3) If a member has been absent from work during any part of the year specified in regulation 22(2), his final pay period is the last 365 days he is entitled to count as a period of active membership.

(4) A member to whom paragraph (5) applies may elect that instead of his final pay period being determined under regulation 22(2) or paragraph (1), (2) or (3), it should instead be –

(a)as respects so much of his pay as does not consist of fluctuating emoluments, a year ending with a day –

(i)falling within the period of three years ending with the last day he was an active member, and

(ii)of which that last day is the anniversary; and

(b)as respects so much of his pay as consists of fluctuating emoluments, that period of three years.

(5) This paragraph applies to a member whose pay in the period which he would elect as his final pay period if he made an election under paragraph (4) is higher than his pay in a final pay period determined under regulation 22(2) or paragraph (1), (2) or (3).

(6) Where paragraph (1) or (2) applies or a member elects for the period specified in paragraph (4)(b), as respects so much of his pay as consists of fluctuating emoluments his final pay is the annual average of his fluctuating emoluments during his final pay period.

(7) An election under this regulation by a member must be made by notice in writing given to the Committee before the expiry of the period of one month, or such longer period as the Committee may allow, beginning with the day he is notified of his entitlement to a benefit.

(8) Where a member has died without having made an election under this regulation, the Committee may make an election on his behalf (whether or not the period within which he could have elected has expired).

Permanent reductions in pay: certificates of protection of pension benefits

24.—(1) Where a certificate has been issued as respects a member’s pay under paragraph (3) or (5) and the date of reduction or, as the case may be, restriction specified in the certificate is not more than 10 years before the date on which he ceases to be an active member, he may elect that his final pay period should be –

(a)a year ending with a day –

(i)falling within the period of five years ending with the last day he was an active member, and

(ii)of which that last day is the anniversary; or

(b)any three consecutive years –

(i)falling within the period of 13 years ending with the last day he was an active member, and

(ii)ending with a day of which that last day is the anniversary.

(2) Where a member elects for the period specified in paragraph (1)(b), his final pay is the annual average of his pay during that period.

(3) If, otherwise than by virtue of a member’s own circumstances –

(a)his rate of pay is reduced; or

(b)the rate at which it may be increased is restricted in such a way that it is likely that the rate of his retirement pension will be adversely affected,

he is entitled to be issued with a certificate to this effect by his employing authority (but see paragraph (5)).

(4) A member is not entitled to be issued with a certificate under this regulation if the reduction in his rate of pay –

(a)is temporary; or

(b)consists in the termination of, or a reduction in, a temporary increase in the rate of pay.

(5) The employing authority may issue a certificate without an application from the member, but need not issue a certificate if he does not apply for one within 12 months after the date of reduction or restriction.

(6) A certificate issued under this regulation must specify the date of the reduction or restriction.

(7) The employing authority must send a copy of the certificate to the Committee.

(8) The employing authority must keep a record of the certificate including such information as would be necessary for applying paragraph (1) for the period of 10 years beginning with the date of reduction or restriction specified in it.

(9) An election under this regulation by a member must be made by notice in writing given to the Committee before the expiry of the period of one month, or such longer period as the Committee may allow, beginning with the date on which he is notified of his entitlement to a benefit.

(10) Where a member has died without having made an election under this regulation, the Committee may make an election on his behalf (whether or not the period within which he could have elected has expired).

Revenue restrictions

25.  Schedule 4 contains restrictions on the amounts of benefits which a member is entitled to under the Scheme.

Retirement benefits

Normal retirement

26.—(1) If a member who has attained his normal retirement age retires from a local government employment, he is entitled to a pension and retirement grant which are payable immediately.

(2) The normal retirement date of a member is his 65th birthday.

(3) But the normal retirement date of a member who was a member immediately before the commencement date is –

(a)his 60th birthday if on the day before that day he has total membership of at least 25 years; or

(b)the day after the date on which he first has such total membership if that date is on or after his 60th birthday but before his 65th birthday.

(4) A member’s normal retirement age is his age on his normal retirement date.

Retirement after the normal retirement date

27.  A member who with the consent of his employing authority remains in service after his 65th birthday is entitled to the immediate payment of a pension and retirement grant when he retires from service.

Redundancy etc.

28.—(1) If –

(a)a member who is aged 50 or more retires from a local government employment; and

(b)his employing authority certifies the reason for his retirement was his redundancy,

he is entitled to a pension and retirement grant which are payable immediately.

(2) In paragraph (1) “redundancy” includes retirement in the interests of efficiency, or because the member held a joint appointment which has been ended because the other holder has left it.

Ill-health

29.—(1) Where a member leaves a local government employment by reason of being permanently incapable of discharging efficiently the duties of that employment or any other comparable employment with his employing authority because of ill-health or infirmity of mind or body, he is entitled to an ill-health pension and grant which are payable immediately.

(2) A member –

(a)whose total membership is at least one year, but less than two years;

• and

(b)to whom no transfer value is credited,

is entitled to an ill-health grant (but not a pension), unless paragraph (3) applies to him.

(3) This paragraph applies to a member if –

(a)he is entitled to any payment out of the fund; or

(b)he would receive at least as much as the grant if his contributions were returned to him.

(4) In paragraph (1), “comparable employment” means employment in which, when compared with the member’s employment –

(a)the contractual provisions as to capacity either are the same or differ only to an extent that is reasonable given the nature of the member’s ill-health or infirmity of mind or body; and

(b)the contractual provisions as to place, remuneration, hours of work, holiday entitlement, sickness or injury entitlement and other material terms do not differ substantially from those of the member’s employment.

Amounts of ill-health pension and grant

30.—(1) Where the member’s total membership is at least 5 years, the multiplier for an ill-health pension or grant is by reference to the member’s enhanced membership period instead of his total membership.

(2) A member’s enhanced membership period is –

(a)if his total membership is less than 10 years, twice his total membership;

(b)if his total membership is at least 10 years, but not more than 13 122/365 years, 20 years; and

(c)otherwise, his total membership plus 6 243/365 years.

(3) But the enhanced membership period must not exceed 40 years or the total membership the member would have had if he had continued as an active member until he was 65, whichever is the shorter.

(4) If the member became entitled to ill-health benefits under the Scheme before he was in the employment from which he has retired, his enhanced membership period must be calculated –

(a)by including in his total membership his total in the previous employment; and

(b)deducting from his total membership the period by which his membership period for that employment was increased for calculating those benefits.

(5) The maximum period which may be added to a member’s total membership period to calculate his enhanced membership period in respect of all his local government employments is 10 years.

(6) Where membership includes membership in part-time employment, the enhanced membership period allowed under paragraph (2) must be calculated by first working out what it would be if the employment were all whole-time, and then reducing the resulting period by multiplying it by the appropriate fraction (but see paragraphs (7) and (10)).

(7) The member’s enhanced membership period must not be reduced below that which is calculated by reference to his membership in whole-time employment, disregarding his membership in part-time employment.

(8) The appropriate fraction is the fraction of which the numerator is the member’s total membership and the denominator is the period which would be his total membership if his employment had all been whole-time.

(9) In the case of a member in part-time employment with non-cyclical fluctuating contractual hours, that fraction must be determined by making separate calculations for each period over which averaging of the member’s hours occurs in calculating his contractual hours.

(10) If the member’s total membership includes a period of at least 13 122/365 years in whole-time employment, paragraph (6) does not apply.

(11) If a member is entitled under regulation 29(2) to an ill-health grant (but not a pension), the multiplier for the grant is –

Re-employed pensioners

31.—(1) Where a member is entitled to two retirement pensions because of having been a member in two employments which were not concurrent, he may elect for a single new pension.

(2) If he so elects, he becomes entitled to a single retirement pension and retirement grant, each calculated by reference to the augmented period (but see paragraph (7)).

(3) The augmented period is the member’s total membership in the later employment, increased by the period which would have been aggregated if he had made an election under regulation 34(1) as respects his earlier employment when he became an active member in his later employment.

(4) But if the retirement pension from the earlier employment was calculated using a longer period of membership than the period which is the augmented period under paragraph (3), the longer period is the augmented period for paragraph (2).

(5) No election may be made if the pension for the earlier employment –

(a)is paid under regulation 33 and subject to a reduction, or

(b)is an equivalent pension benefit pension.

(6) The member must set off any retirement grant he received because of his membership in the earlier employment (“the first grant”) against the retirement grant under this regulation and, if it was greater, repay the difference between the grants to the Committee.

(7) Any additional period which did not count in the calculation of the first grant because of regulation 56(3), does not count in calculating the retirement grant under this regulation either.

(8) Any surrender of the pension from the earlier employment operates to the same extent on the single pension.

(9) Where the later retirement is one to which regulation 29 (ill-health) applies and the member does not become entitled to a single pension if his earlier pension is not payable under that regulation, the membership enhancement period is 6 243/365 years more than his total membership.

Further provisions about elections under regulation 31

32.—(1) An election under regulation 31 must be made by giving notice in writing to the Committee.

(2) The election must be made before the expiry of the period of three months beginning with the date the member becomes entitled to the pension for the later employment and has effect from that date.

(3) If a member does not repay any amount due under paragraph (6) of regulation 31 before the expiry of the period of three months beginning with the date he elects, his election is void (and so he is not entitled to the single pension).

Other early leavers: deferred retirement benefits and elections for early payment

33.—(1) If a member leaves a local government employment (or is treated for these Regulations as if he had done so) before he is entitled to the immediate payment of retirement benefits (apart from this regulation), once he is aged 50 or more he may elect to receive payment of them immediately.

(2) An election made by a member aged less than 60 is ineffective without the consent of his employing authority or former employing authority (but see paragraph (6)).

(3) If the member elects, he is entitled to a pension and retirement grant payable immediately.

(4) If the sum –

(a)of the member’s age in whole years on the date his local government employment ends or the date he elects, if later;

(b)of his total membership in whole years; and

(c)in a case where he elects after his local government employment ends, of the period beginning with the end of that employment and ending with the date he elects,

is less than 85 years, his retirement pension and grant must be reduced by the amounts shown as appropriate in guidance issued by the Government Actuary (but see paragraphs (5) and (6) and regulation 39(5)) (Guaranteed Minimum Pensions).

(5) A member’s employing authority may determine on compassionate grounds that his retirement pension and grant should not be reduced under paragraph (4).

(6) If a member who has left a local government employment before he is entitled to the immediate payment of retirement benefits (apart from this regulation) becomes permanently incapable as certified in accordance with regulation 98(4) of discharging efficiently the duties of that employment because of ill-health or infirmity of mind or body –

(a)he may elect to receive payment of the retirement benefits immediately, whatever his age; and

(b)paragraphs (2) and (4) do not apply.

(7) If a member does not elect for immediate payment under this regulation, he is entitled to receive a pension and grant without reduction payable from his normal retirement date or from such earlier date on or after his 60th birthday as the member elects on which the sum of the items referred to in sub-paragraphs (a) to (c) of paragraph (4) is 85 years or more.

(8) An election under paragraph (1) must be made by notice in writing to the member’s Scheme employer.

Re-employed and rejoining deferred members

34.—(1) Where a deferred member becomes an active member again before becoming entitled to the immediate payment of retirement benefits in respect of his former membership, he may elect to have his former membership aggregated with his membership on or after the date he becomes an active member again.

(2) But an election may only be made by a Class B member as respects former Class B membership or Class C membership and an election may only be made by a Class C member as respects former Class C membership.

(3) Where a member elects under paragraph (1) –

(a)he ceases to be entitled to rights under the Scheme in respect of his former membership (except in so far as he is entitled by virtue of having become an active member again to rights in respect of the aggregated total membership); and

(b)he ceases to count as a deferred member for these Regulations as respects his former membership (unless he becomes a deferred member again after ceasing to be an active member).

(4) Where an election under paragraph (1) is made by a member who has ceased to be an active member more than once, the election may be made as respects his total membership at each of the times he so ceased or only as respects such of those periods of membership as are specified in the election.

(5) Where a member who may elect under paragraph (1) does not do so or does not elect as respects all periods of his membership –

(a)in applying regulations 19(2) and (3), 30(2), 31 and 33(4) as respects any later membership, his total membership excludes unaggregated periods;

(b)for the purpose only of calculating whether the member has the necessary total membership –

(i)referred to in regulation 18 (1) (a) to be entitled to benefits under this Chapter,

(ii)referred to in regulation 29 (2) (a) to be entitled to an ill-health grant, or

(iii)referred to in regulation 30 (1),

the unaggregated periods of membership shall be taken into account; and

(c)as respects each unaggregated period of his former membership –

(i)paragraph (3) does not apply,

(ii)he shall continue to be treated as a deferred member or, as the case may be, as a pensioner member (and not as an active member), and

(iii)he shall be entitled to the same rights as if he were not also an active member (but subject to regulation 37 and, in the case of a pensioner member, to regulation 31).

(6) For this regulation a period of membership is an unaggregated period if –

(a)no previous election has been made under this regulation for its aggregation; and

(b)in the case of a period as respects which the member was entitled to elect under regulation D12(1)(c) of the 2000 Regulations (elections to remain entitled to preserved benefits) or any previous corresponding provision of the Scheme, such an election was made.

(7) An election under paragraph (1) must be made by notice in writing to the Committee.

(8) References in this regulation to former membership include all membership which the member was entitled to count as total membership immediately before he ceased his former active membership.

(9) Where a person ceases to be an active member in one employment and immediately becomes an active member in another employment, for paragraph (1) of this regulation he shall be treated as if he were a deferred member as respects the first employment, despite never having ceased to be an active member of the Scheme.

(10) In the case of a member who first becomes a member on or after 2nd April 2001 any period of membership in the employment of a non-associated admission body (as defined in regulation 4(16)(c)) shall not be aggregated with any other periods of membership for the purpose of calculating his retirement grant.

Concurrent employments

35.—(1) Where a person –

(a)ceases to be an active member in one employment (“the first employment”); and

(b)continues as an active member in another employment he held concurrently with the first employment,

he may elect to have his former membership in respect of the first employment aggregated with his membership in that other employment.

(2) If he so elects, the provisions of regulation 34 shall apply as if references to –

(a)his former membership or former active membership were references to his membership from his first employment;

(b)the new employment were references to his concurrent employment; and

(c)the employment in which he becomes an active member again were references to that concurrent employment.

(3) In the case of a person to whom this regulation applies, the period of membership which will be aggregated with his membership from the concurrent employment will be equal to his membership from his first employment, as reduced under regulation 10(4) if the first employment was part-time, multiplied by the fraction –

Surrenders of pension

36.—(1) A member may apply to the Committee to surrender part of the retirement pension which is or may become payable to him, so that, if he is survived by his spouse or any dependant of his (“the beneficiary”), the equivalent value of that part is paid instead to the beneficiary under this regulation.

(2) The application must be made in the period of one month ending with or one month beginning with the date on which the member retires.

(3) The Committee must allow the application if it is satisfied that the member is in good health.

(4) The Committee may require the member to produce, at his own expense, sufficient medical evidence to satisfy it in accordance with paragraph (3).

(5) The surrender must not result in a pension being paid to the beneficiary of less than such amount as is specified in guidance issued for this paragraph by the Government Actuary.

(6) The aggregate amount surrendered must not –

(a)result in the reduction of the retirement pension to less than the pension which would become payable to the beneficiary; or

(b)exceed one third of the retirement pension.

(7) On the death of the member the beneficiary becomes entitled to a pension at a rate equivalent to the value of the surrender in the beneficiary’s favour at the time when the surrender was made.

(8) The equivalent rate is such rate as is indicated in guidance issued by the Government Actuary.

(9) If the surrender is allowed, it has effect from the date on which the member retires from his employment.

(10) But it does not take effect if the beneficiary or member dies before that date, and it ceases to have effect if the beneficiary dies before the member.

No double entitlement

37.—(1) Where (apart from this regulation) any member would be entitled to a pension or retirement grant under two or more regulations by reason of the same period of membership –

(a)he may elect under which provision he is to be paid those benefits;

and

(b)if he does not elect, the employing authority may notify him in writing of the provision.

(2) An election by a member must be by notice in writing, given to the employing authority before the expiry of the period of three months beginning with the day on which he becomes entitled to elect.

(3) Paragraph (1) does not affect the member’s rights under the Pension Schemes (Northern Ireland) Act 1993(14).

Requirements as to time of payment

38.—(1) Retirement benefits under this Chapter may not be paid to a person before he has retired from the employment in which he was a member.

(2) But they must begin to be paid not later than the member’s 75th birthday even if he has not retired (and see also regulation 39(3)).

Guaranteed minimum pensions etc.

39.—(1) Where a member’s local government employment is contracted-out employment and he has a guaranteed minimum in relation to service before 6th April 1997, from the date he attains state pensionable age he is entitled to a pension at a weekly rate equal to not less than that guaranteed minimum.

(2) But if the member attains state pensionable age while in local government employment, he is not so entitled until he leaves that employment, unless paragraph (3) applies.

(3) If the member –

(a)continues in the same employment for a further period of five years after attaining state pensionable age; and

(b)does not then leave it,

he is entitled from the end of that period to so much of his retirement pension as equals that guaranteed minimum (unless he consents to a postponement of the entitlement).

(4) For paragraph (1), a person has a guaranteed minimum if he has such a minimum under section 10 of the Pension Schemes (Northern Ireland) Act 1993 in relation to benefits under these Regulations.

(5) A person’s retirement pension is not to be reduced under regulation 33(4) to less than the aggregate of –

(a)any minimum rate of equivalent pension benefits applicable under the Insurance Act; and

(b)one eightieth of his final pay (expressed as an annual rate), multiplied by the length in years of the whole period of his membership in contracted-out employment during the period beginning with the relevant date and ending with 30th April 1995.

(6) In paragraph (5) “the relevant date” means –

(a)in the case of a man, 17th May 1990; and

(b)in the case of a woman, 6th April 1978.

(7) Where a person’s local government employment is or was contracted-out employment, a surrender under regulation 36 (together with any previous surrenders) must not result in the annual rate of the retirement pension being less than one eightieth of his final pay multiplied by the length in years of the whole period of his membership in contracted-out employment beginning with the relevant date and ending with 30th April 1995.

(8) Where a person making a surrender under regulation 36 has a guaranteed minimum, the surrender (together with any previous surrenders) must not result in the weekly rate of the retirement pension being less than the guaranteed minimum.

(9) Where a person making a surrender under regulation 36 –

(a)is in local government employment;

(b)has attained normal retirement age; and

(c)has total membership of at least two years or a transfer value credited to him,

references in paragraphs (7) and (8) to the retirement pension are references to the retirement pension which would become payable if he ceased to hold his employment on the day the surrender takes effect.

(10) This regulation overrides any provision in these Regulations to the extent to which it conflicts with it, except –

(a)regulation 51 (commutation);

(b)regulation 113 (application of abatement policy in individual cases);

(c)regulation 114 (forfeiture); and

(d)regulation 115 (interim payments directions).

Revaluation of guaranteed minimum

40.—(1) Where the guaranteed minimum of a person who has ceased to be an active member is appropriately secured, his earnings factors for the purposes of section 10(2) of the Pension Schemes (Northern Ireland) Act 1993 must be determined –

(a)by reference to the last order under Article 23 of the Social Security Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1975(15) or section 130 of the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992(16) (revaluation orders) to come into force before the end of the tax year in which he ceased to be an active member; and

(b)without reference to the last such order to come into force before the end of the final relevant year.

(2) For such a person the weekly equivalent mentioned in section 10(2) of the Pension Schemes (Northern Ireland) Act 1993 is to be increased –

(a)by at least the prescribed percentage for each relevant year after the end of the tax year in which he ceased to be an active member, and

(b)in accordance with such additional requirements as may be prescribed for the purposes of section 12(3) of the Pension Schemes (Northern Ireland) Act 1993.

(3) In this regulation –

• “appropriately secured” has the meaning given in section 15(3) of the Pension Schemes (Northern Ireland) Act 1993;

• “final relevant year” has the meaning given in section 12(5) of that Act;

• “relevant year” has the meaning given in section 10(8) of that Act; and

• “prescribed percentage” has the meaning given in regulation 62 of the Occupational Pension Schemes (Contracting-out) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996(17).

Death grants

Death grants

41.—(1) If a member dies, the Committee at its absolute discretion may make payments to or for the benefit of the member’s nominee or personal representatives or any person appearing to the Committee to have been his relative or dependant at any time.

(2) The aggregate amount paid under paragraph (1) must not exceed the member’s death grant.

(3) The multiplier for an active member’s death grant is 2.

(4) The multiplier for a deferred member’s death grant is the same as for his retirement grant.

(5) The multiplier for a pensioner member’s death grant is 5, but the amount so calculated is reduced by the amounts of any retirement pension paid to him.

(6) The multiplier for the death grant of a member who remains in service after his 65th birthday as referred to in regulation 27 is whichever of –

(a)2, or

(b)

• gives the greater amount.

(7) If the Committee has not made payments under paragraph (1) equalling in aggregate the member’s death grant before the expiry of the period of 2 years beginning with his death, it must pay an amount equal to the shortfall to the member’s personal representatives.

(8) For these Regulations, any payments made under paragraph (1) must be treated as payments made by way of death grant.

Surviving spouses' pensions

Surviving spouse’s short-term pension

42.—(1) If an active or pensioner member dies leaving a surviving spouse, the spouse is entitled to a short-term pension.

(2) It is payable for three months after the member’s death.

(3) But if there are eligible children in the spouse’s care, it is payable for a further three months.

(4) Where the deceased was an active member, the annual rate of short-term pension is equal to the deceased’s final pay.

(5) Where the deceased was a pensioner member, the annual rate of short-term pension is equal to his retirement pension immediately before the death (but see regulation 44).

(6) In this regulation “pensioner member” includes a person whose retirement pension has been commuted under regulation 52 (exceptional ill-health).

(7) If there is more than one surviving spouse, they become jointly entitled under paragraph (1).

Surviving spouse’s long-term pension

43.—(1) If a member dies leaving a surviving spouse, the spouse is entitled to a spouse’s long-term pension.

(2) If the deceased was an active or pensioner member, the long-term pension is payable from the end of the period for which the short-term pension is payable.

(3) The long-term pension payable on a deferred member’s death is payable from the death.

(4) If the deceased was an active member with a total membership of at least two years, the long-term pension is equal to half the ill-health pension to which the deceased would have been entitled under regulation 29 if he had become entitled to a pension under that regulation on the date he died.

(5) If the deceased was an active member with a total membership of less than two years or a deferred member, the multiplier for the long-term pension is –

(but see regulation 44).

(6) But where the deceased was a deferred member and a pension debit member, the long-term pension is equal to half the pension to which the deceased would have been entitled under regulation 26 if he had become entitled to a pension under that regulation on the date that he died (but see regulation 44).

(7) If the deceased was a pensioner member, the long-term pension is equal to half his retirement pension immediately before the date of death (but see regulation 44).

(8) For the purposes of this regulation –

(a)any increase in the pensioner member’s retirement pension made under regulation 57(2);

(b)any reduction in that pension under regulation 33 or 36 (surrender); and

(c)any loss of that pension as a result of an election made under regulation 31,

shall be disregarded.

(9) If there is more than one surviving spouse, they become jointly entitled under paragraph (1).

Reduction of some surviving spouses' pensions

44.—(1) Where a male pensioner member or deferred member marries and dies, the pension to which his widow is entitled under regulation 42 or 43 is calculated as if his retirement pension were only so much of his actual pension as is attributable to the period of his membership in contracted-out employment after 5th April 1978.

(2) Except in the case of a short term pension payable to the widower of an active member, the pension to which a widower is entitled under regulation 42 or 43 is calculated as if the member’s retirement pension were only so much of her actual pension as is attributable to her membership after 5th April 1988.

(3) But relevant additional membership also counts as membership after 5th April 1988, where the widower was married to the member at some time while she was in local government employment after 31st March 1972.

(4) Relevant additional membership is membership –

(a)forming the enhanced element of a member’s total period of membership by virtue of a retirement to which regulation 30 applied after 5th April 1988;

(b)added by virtue of a resolution under Chapter II of Part III or regulation 130 or under the Transitional Regulations after that date;

(c)counted by reason of a payment made under Chapter III of Part III or paragraph 7 of Schedule 4 after that date (or treated by the Transitional Regulations as so made);

(d)treated as membership after 5th April 1988 by virtue of the 2000 Regulations; or

(e)attributable to a transfer value accepted by the Scheme after 5th April 1988.

Surviving spouse’s guaranteed minimum pension

45.—(1) If the guaranteed minimum pension rule applies, the pension to which a person is entitled under regulation 42 or 43 must be not less than the surviving spouse’s guaranteed minimum.

(2) The guaranteed minimum pension rule applies if –

(a)the employment in which the deceased was a member was contracted-out employment; and

(b)he had a guaranteed minimum in relation to benefits under these Regulations.

(3) Paragraph (1) overrides any contrary provision in these Regulations except–

(a)regulation 51 (commutation of small pensions);

(b)regulation 114 (forfeiture); and

(c)regulation 115 (interim payments directions).

Children’s pensions

Meaning of “eligible child”

46.—(1) The eligible child of a deceased member is –

(a)the deceased’s legitimate or adopted child; or

(b)a child who was wholly or mainly dependent on the deceased at the time of his death or, where the child is born after the member’s death, who would have been so dependent if he had been born before or on the date of the deceased member’s death,

but does not include a child who was born on or after the first anniversary of the date of the deceased’s death.

(2) A person only counts as a child if –

(a)he is aged under 17;

(b)since he became 17 he has been engaged continuously in full-time education or in training for a trade, profession or vocation; or

(c)he is physically or mentally incapacitated and became so whilst a child within paragraph (a) or (b).

(3) If the Committee wishes, it may treat education or training as continuous despite a break.

Children’s short-term pensions

47.—(1) If an active member or pensioner member dies leaving one or more eligible children, they are entitled to a children’s short-term pension.

(2) If a short-term pension is payable to a surviving spouse under regulation 42, the children’s short-term pension is payable only for three months after the death.

(3) Otherwise, it is payable for six months after the death.

(4) Where the deceased was an active member, the annual rate of children’s short-term pension is equal to the deceased’s final pay.

(5) Where the deceased was a pensioner member, the annual rate of children’s short-term pension is equal to his retirement pension immediately before the death.

(6) But in the case of a pensioner member who was a pension debit member, the pension is calculated by reference to the retirement pension to which the deceased would have been entitled had his shareable rights not been subject to a pension debit.

(7) If a short-term pension is payable to a surviving spouse under regulation 42, the children’s short-term pension is reduced by that pension, if one or more of the children are in the care of the surviving spouse.

(8) Where, if a children’s long-term pension and a surviving spouse’s long-term pension were payable instead of short-term pensions, that would result in a greater aggregate pension, long-term pensions shall be payable instead of short-term pensions.

(9) Where –

(a)a children’s short-term pension is payable for one or more children who are not in the care of a person to whom a short-term pension is payable (or would be payable apart from paragraph (8)); and

(b)a children’s long-term pension would be greater,

the long-term pension shall be payable instead of the short-term pension.

(10) In this regulation “pensioner member” includes a person whose retirement pension has been commuted under regulation 52 (exceptional ill-health).

Children’s long-term pensions

48.—(1) If a member dies leaving one or more eligible children, they are entitled to a children’s long-term pension.

(2) If the deceased was an active member or pensioner member, it is payable from the end of the period for which the short-term spouse’s and short-term children’s pensions are payable.

(3) The pension payable on the death of a deferred member is payable from the day after his death.

(4) An eligible child ceases to be entitled to a long-term pension when he ceases to be a child within regulation 46(2).

(5) If the deceased was an active member, the pension is the appropriate fraction of the pension to which he would have been entitled if on the date of death he had become entitled under regulation 29(1) (ill-health).

(6) If the deceased was a deferred member, the pension is the appropriate fraction of the amount of the pension to which he would have been entitled if on the date of death he had become entitled under regulation 26 (normal retirement).

(7) If the deceased was a pensioner member, the pension is the appropriate fraction of his retirement pension disregarding –

(a)any increase made under regulation 57(2),

(b)any reduction made under regulation 33 or regulation 36, and

(c)any loss of pension as a result of an election made under regulation 31.

(8) But in the case of a member who was a pension debit member, the pension is calculated by reference to the pension to which the deceased would have been entitled had his shareable rights not been subject to a pension debit.

(9) If, apart from this paragraph, the calculation of the long-term pension would be based on a member’s retirement pension calculated on the basis of membership of less than –

(a)10 years; or

(b)the period he would have been entitled to count if his active membership had continued until his 65th birthday,

(whichever is the shorter), then that period should be used instead in calculating it.

(10) The appropriate fractions are –

(a)where there is one eligible child –

(i)if a surviving spouse’s long-term pension is payable, one quarter,

(ii)otherwise one-third;

(b)where there is more than one eligible child –

(i)if a surviving spouse’s long-term pension is payable, one half,

(ii)otherwise two-thirds.

(11) If a child in full-time training for a trade, profession or vocation is receiving pay at an annual rate exceeding the training rate –

(a)the pension is reduced by the excess; but

(b)if the pension would be greater without the child, he need not be counted.

(12) In paragraph (11) “the training rate” means the current annual rate of an official pension which began to be paid on 1st April 1994 at an annual rate of £1,450.

Discretions as to payment of children’s pensions

49.—(1) If a children’s pension is payable for more than one eligible child, the Committee may apportion it amongst the children as it thinks fit.

(2) The Committee may pay the whole or part of a children’s pension to a person other than an eligible child, to be applied for the benefit of one or more eligible children as it directs.

Dependants of re-employed pensioners

50.—(1) If –

(a)after a member became entitled to an unreduced retirement pension, he entered further local government employment in which he died; and

(b)assuming that immediately before he died he had retired from the further employment, he would have been entitled to elect under regulation 31 for a single pension,

the benefits payable under the Scheme on his death (except short-term pensions) and any surrendered benefits must be calculated in the case of each beneficiary using whichever of assumptions A and B gives that beneficiary the most favourable benefits.

(2) Assumption A is that the deceased did so retire and assumption B is that he did so retire and so elect.

(3) An unreduced retirement pension is a pension which is not reduced under regulation 33(4) (early leavers).

(4) Where –

(a)a member dies in a new employment; and

(b)assuming he had retired from it on the date he died, he would have been entitled to a retirement pension under this Chapter (whether payable immediately or not),

the short-term pension under regulation 42 is the sum of –

(i)his final pay in the new employment, and

(ii)the rate at which his retirement pension from his former employment is payable (after taking into account any reduction under regulation 113 (application of abatement policy in individual cases)).

(5) Where a member dies in a new employment, the long-term pension under regulation 43 is the greater of amount A or amount B.

(6) Amount A is half the sum of –

(a)the member’s retirement pension; and

(b)the retirement pension to which he would have been entitled if on the date of death he had become entitled to a pension under regulation 29(1) (ill-health) from the new employment.

(7) Amount B is half the retirement pension to which the member would have been entitled if on the date of death he had become entitled under regulation 29(1) and had elected under regulation 31 for a single pension.

(8) Amount A and amount B are both to be calculated on the basis that the retirement pensions have not been –

(a)reduced by virtue of a surrender under regulation 36; or

(b)increased under regulation 56 (effect of increases under Chapter II of Part III for older members).

Commutation

Commutation: small pensions

51.—(1) If the annual rate of the retirement pension which a member who has attained state pensionable age is entitled to be paid is not more than £195, the Committee may pay him a lump sum representing the capital value of the pension.

(2) The Committee may also pay a lump sum representing the capital value of a long-term pension which is payable to any surviving spouse or to or in respect of an eligible child or children, if the annual rate does not exceed £260.

(3) If a member is entitled to more than one retirement pension under the Scheme or more than one long-term pension is payable under the Scheme following a member’s death, a lump sum is only payable if the aggregate amount payable to that member or following that death is £195 or less, as the case may be, £260.

(4) Any increase payable under the Pensions (Increase) Act (Northern Ireland) 1971(18) in respect of a pension must be included in its annual rate.

(5) The capital value of a pension must be calculated as shown in guidance issued by the Government Actuary.

(6) Where a payment is made in respect of a retirement pension, a payment representing the capital value of any long-term pension, which would be payable to the member’s spouse if that spouse survived the member, must also be made.

(7) The payment of a lump sum in respect of a pension discharges the Committee from its liability for it and, where the payment is made to a member, for any short-term or long-term pensions which may become payable on his death.

(8) The Committee must deduct from any payment under this regulation any tax for which it may become liable under section 599 of the Taxes Act(19).

Commutation: exceptional ill-health

52.—(1) If, when a retirement pension first becomes payable to a member, the Committee is satisfied that his life expectancy is less than one year, it may pay him a lump sum equal to five times the amount by which the annual rate of the retirement pension exceeds his guaranteed minimum.

(2) Such a payment discharges the Committee’s liability for that pension (except the guaranteed minimum) and for any lump sum death grant calculated by reference to that pension (except the guaranteed minimum) under the Scheme.

(3) The Committee must deduct from any such payment any tax for which it may become liable under section 599 of the Taxes Act.