Local Government (Superannuation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1992

Regulation P1

SCHEDULE 20 The Committee

PART I CONSTITUTION OF THE COMMITTEE

1.  The Committee shall consist of a chairman appointed by the Head of the Department and the following other members—

(a) eight members appointed by the Head of the Department after consultation with such organisations as may be recognised by him as representative of scheduled bodies and admitted bodies respectively; and

(b) eight members appointed as aforesaid after consultation with such organisations as may be recognised by the Head of the Department as representative of the classes of officers of scheduled bodies or admitted bodies affected by the regulations.

2.  Subject to the provisions of paragraph 5, the term of office of members of the Committee shall be 3 years from the date of their appointment.

3.  The quorum of the Committee shall be 9, or such other number as the Committee may, with the approval of the Department, determine.

4.  The Committee may act notwithstanding any vacancy in their number so long as the number of vacancies does not exceed the number of remaining members.

5.  A casual vacancy occurring in the membership of the Committee shall be filled by the Head of the Department after consultation with the Committee and a person so appointed shall hold office for the residue of the term of the member in whose place he is so appointed.

6.  A member of the Committee may resign his membership by giving notice in writing, signed by him, to the Head of the Department.

7.  Where any member of the Committee is absent from the meetings thereof for more than 6 months consecutively (except for a reason approved by the Head of the Department) or becomes bankrupt or makes a composition with his creditors or is convicted of an indictable offence, the Committee shall forthwith by resolution declare the office to be vacant and shall notify that fact in such manner as they think fit, and thereupon the office shall become vacant.

8.  A member of the Committee on vacating his office at the expiration of the term thereof shall (subject to the foregoing provisions of this Schedule) be eligible for re-appointment.

9.  No defect in the appointment of any person acting as a member of the Committee shall vitiate any proceedings of the Committee in which he has taken part.

PART II POWERS OF THE COMMITTEE

1.  The Committee, which shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal, and with capacity to acquire and hold land, shall subject to paragraphs 2 to 8, perform such functions as may be assigned to them by these regulations.

2.  The Committee may appoint a sub-committee or an officer employed by the Committee to discharge, with or without restrictions or conditions as the Committee thinks fit, any of the functions assigned to the Committee by regulations P2 and P3.

3.  The number of members of a sub-committee appointed under paragraph 2, and their term of office shall be fixed by the Committee or in the case of an officer his term of office shall be fixed by the Committee.

4.  A sub-committee appointed under paragraph 2 shall consist of members of the Committee and may include officers of the Committee appointed under paragraphs 11 and 12.

5.  A sub-committee or an officer appointed under paragraph 2 shall report to the Committee at each of its meetings setting out all actions taken under such appointment.

6.  The Committee may revoke any appointment made under paragraph 2, or any restriction or condition imposed under paragraph 2 or anything fixed under paragraph 3.

7.  Any arrangements made by the Committee for the discharge of the functions specified in regulations P2 and P3 by a sub-committee or officer shall not prevent the Committee from exercising those functions.

8.  The seal of the Committee shall be authenticated by the signatures of 2 of the members and of the secretary or some other person authorised by the Committee to act in that behalf.

9.  Every document purporting to be an instrument issued by the Committee and to be sealed with the seal of the Committee authenticated in the manner provided by paragraph 8, or to be signed by the secretary or any person authorised to act in that behalf, shall be received in evidence and, unless the contrary is proved, shall be deemed to be such instrument without further proof.

10.  Subject to the provisions of these regulations, the Committee shall have power to regulate their own procedure.

11.  The Committee may with the approval of the Department appoint persons to hold any of the following offices—

(a) Secretary to the Committee;

(b) Deputy Secretary to the Committee;

(c) such other offices under the Committee as the Department may designate in writing.

12.  In addition to the appointments mentioned in paragraph 11, the Committee may appoint such other officers as may be required for the performance of the functions of the Committee.

13.—(1) The Committee may make arrangements with any district council, area board or public body for the exercise of any superannuation function by the Committee on behalf of the district council, area board or public body on such terms as may be provided for by the arrangements.

(2) For the purposes of this paragraph, “area board” means an Education and Library Board established under Article 3 of the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1986 or a Health and Social Services Board established under Article 16 of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972(1).

14.  Section 18(2) of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954(2) shall apply to any appointment made by virtue of paragraphs 11 or 12 as if each of these paragraphs were an enactment referred to in the said section 18(2) but a person shall not be removed from any office mentioned in paragraph 11 without the written concurrence of the Department.

PART III EXPENSES AND ALLOWANCES PAYABLE BY THE COMMITTEE

1.  The expenses of the Committee, including payments in respect of reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred by the members in connection with the discharge of their duties as such, shall be defrayed out of the fund.

2.  The Committee may, in addition to any payments made under paragraph 1, pay to the Chairman of the Committee such allowance as they consider to be reasonable.

3.  The Committee may in addition to any payments made under paragraphs 1 or 2, pay to a member of the Committee a financial loss allowance in connection with service as a member of the Committee, but such allowance shall not exceed the amount of financial loss allowance as the Department may from time to time determine under section 36 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972(3).

4.  A member of the Committee entitled to a financial loss allowance under paragraph 3 shall make a claim for such allowance in such form as the Committee may direct to the Secretary of the Committee and shall make a declaration that—

(a) he has not or will not make any claim for allowances from any other body in respect of the approved duty to which the claim refers;

(b) the amounts claimed are strictly in accordance with the provisions of this Part; and

(c) he has necessarily incurred or suffered the financial loss claimed for the purpose of enabling him to perform an approved duty.

5.  A claim for a financial loss allowance shall be submitted to the Committee within 4 months, or such longer period as the Committee may in exceptional circumstances allow, from the date of the approved duty in respect of which the allowance is claimed.

6.  In this Part—

“approved duty” means attendance at a meeting of the Committee or of any sub-committee thereof or the doing of anything approved by the Committee for the purpose of, or in connection with, the discharge of the functions of the Committee; and

“financial loss allowance” means a payment in respect of any loss of earnings necessarily suffered or any additional expenses (other than expenses on account of travelling or subsistence) necessarily suffered or incurred by a member for the purpose of enabling him to perform any approved duty.

(1)

S.I. 1972/1265 (N.I. 14)

(2)

1954 c. 33 (N.I.)

(3)

1972 c. 9 (N.I.) as amended by The Financial Provisions (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 (S.I. 1978/1041 (N.I. 11))