The Occupational Pension Schemes (Winding up, etc.) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005

Schemes to which Article 73 of the 1995 Order does not apply

3.—(1) Article 73 of the 1995 Order (preferential liabilities on winding up) does not apply to any scheme which is –

(a)a public service pension scheme under the provisions of which there is no requirement for assets related to the intended rate or amount of benefit under the scheme to be set aside in advance (disregarding requirements relating to voluntary contributions);

(b)a scheme which is made under Article 9 of the Superannuation (Northern Ireland) Order 1972(1) (superannuation of persons employed in local government service, etc.) which provides pensions to persons mentioned in paragraph (1)(a) of that Article;

(c)a scheme which is established under section 48 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998(2) (pensions of members), or which was established under Part II of the Ministerial Salaries and Members' Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 1965(3) or Article 3 of the Assembly Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1976(4);

(d)a scheme in respect of which a relevant public authority, as defined in Article 280(4) of the 2005 Order, has given a guarantee or made any other arrangements for the purposes of securing that the assets of the scheme are sufficient to meet its liabilities;

(e)a scheme which does not meet the tax condition;

(f)a scheme which –

(i)has been categorised by the Commissioners of Inland Revenue for the purposes of its approval as a centralised scheme for non-associated employers,

(ii)which is not contracted-out, and

(iii)under the provisions of which the only benefits that may be provided on or after retirement (other than money purchase benefits derived from the payment of voluntary contributions by any person) are lump sum benefits which are not calculated by reference to a member’s salary;

(g)a scheme –

(i)the only benefits provided by which (other than money purchase benefits) are death benefits, and

(ii)under the provisions of which no member has accrued rights (other than rights to money purchase benefits);

(h)a scheme with such a superannuation fund as is mentioned in section 615(6) of the Taxes Act 1988(5) (exemption from tax in respect of certain pensions);

(i)a scheme with fewer than two members;

(j)a scheme with fewer than twelve members where all the members are trustees of the scheme and either –

(i)the rules of the scheme provide that all decisions are made only by the trustees who are members of the scheme by unanimous agreement, or

(ii)the scheme has a trustee who is independent in relation to the scheme for the purposes of Article 23 of the 1995 Order(6) (power to appoint independent trustees) (see paragraph (3) of that Article) and is registered in the register maintained by the Authority in accordance with regulations under paragraph (4) of that Article;

(k)a scheme with fewer than twelve members where all the members are directors of a company which is the sole trustee of the scheme and either –

(i)the rules of the scheme provide that all decisions are made only by the members of the scheme by unanimous agreement, or

(ii)one of the directors of the company is independent in relation to the scheme for the purposes of Article 23 of the 1995 Order and is registered in the register maintained by the Authority in accordance with regulations made under paragraph (4) of that Article;

(l)the scheme established by the Salvation Army Act 1963(7).

(2) Before 6th April 2006 sub-paragraph (e) of paragraph (1) applies as if at the end there were added “and is not a relevant statutory scheme providing relevant benefits”; and for the purposes of that sub-paragraph “relevant statutory scheme” and “relevant benefits”(8) have the same meaning as in Chapter 1 of Part 14 of the Taxes Act 1988 (see sections 611A and 612(1) of that Act(9)).