The Local Government Pension Scheme (Amendment and Transitional Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014

Regulation 1

SCHEDULE 1 INTERPRETATION

“the 1999 Act” means the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999(1);

“the 1999 Order” means the Welfare Reform and Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1999(2);

“the 2000 Regulations” means the Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000(3);

“the 2000 Scheme” means the occupational pension scheme constituted by the 2000 Regulations;

“the 2002 Regulations” means the Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002(4);

“the 2002 Scheme” means the occupational pension scheme constituted by the 2002 Regulations;

“the 2009 Regulations” means the Benefits Regulations, the Administration Regulations and the Transitional Regulations 2009;

“the 2009 Scheme” means the occupational pension scheme constituted by the Benefits Regulations, the Administration Regulations and the Transitional Regulations 2009;

“the 2014 Regulations” means the Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014(5);

“active member” means a person who is in an employment, and is—

(a)

paying contributions to the Scheme;

(b)

treated as paying contributions to the Scheme; or

(c)

absent from that employment for one of the reasons mentioned in regulation 13 (contributions during absence from work) of the 2014 Regulations and entitled to pay contributions to the Scheme;

“actuarial guidance issued by the Department” means guidance identified by the Department as such, which has been issued in accordance with regulation 2(3) (introduction and interpretation) of the 2014 Regulations;

“additional maternity or adoption leave” means leave under Article 105 or 107B of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996(6);

“additional paternity leave” means leave under the Additional Paternity Leave Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010(7);

“additional pension” means pension under the 2014 Regulations other than earned pension;

“admission agreement” means an agreement between the Committee and an admission body that named individuals, or all or any specified class of the admission body’s employees, may be members of the Scheme;

“admission body” has the meaning given to that expression at paragraph (2) of Part 1 of Schedule 2 (admission agreements with admission bodies) to the 2014 Regulations;

“the Administration Regulations” means the Local Government Pension Scheme (Administration) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009(8);

“automatic enrolment date” means the automatic enrolment date within the meaning of section 3 of the Pensions (No. 2) Act (Northern Ireland) 2008(9);

“the Benefits Regulations” means the Local Government Pension Scheme (Benefits, Membership and Contributions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009(10);

“child-related leave” means—

(a)

ordinary adoption leave;

(b)

ordinary maternity leave;

(c)

additional maternity or adoption leave during which the member receives some pensionable pay;

(d)

paternity leave; or

(e)

additional paternity leave during which the member receives some pensionable pay;

“the Committee” means the Northern Ireland Local Government Officers’ Superannuation Committee established under section 1 of the Local Government (Superannuation) Act (Northern Ireland) 1950(11);

“contract of employment” includes terms of office;

“council” means an existing council or a new council;

“councillor” means a member of a new council or a member of an existing council;

“councillor member” means a person who is a member of the Scheme by reason of being a councillor;

“councillor membership” means any period of membership which counts in respect of service as a member of a council and not other local government employment;

“deferred member” has the meaning given by regulation 8 (deferred members) of the 2014 Regulations;

“the Department” means the Department of the Environment;

“the earlier Schemes” means the 2009 Scheme, the 2002 Scheme and the 2000 Scheme, or as circumstances require, a scheme established by the Local Government (Superannuation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1992(12), Local Government (Superannuation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1981(13), Local Government (Superannuation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1962(14), Local Government (Superannuation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1950(15) and shall be deemed also, in the case of a member who immediately before 1st April 1973 was subject to the Belfast Corporation Superannuation Scheme to include the provisions of that Scheme;

“earned pension” means pension accrued from the member’s pensionable pay pursuant to regulation 25(4) or 25(5) (active member’s pension accounts) or credited pursuant to regulation 113(1) (effect of acceptance of transfer value) of the 2014 Regulations;

“employee” includes a whole-time employee, part-time employee and variable-time employee;

“employing authority” means a body employing an employee who is eligible to be a member or is a local authority as defined in Article 2 of the Superannuation (Northern Ireland) Order 1972;

“employing authority’s consent” includes the consent of the Committee in circumstances where the member’s employer or former employer is no longer an employing authority;

“employment” includes office;

“European Pensions Institution” has the same meaning as in Article 269(8) of the Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 2005(16);

“existing council” means a district council constituted under section 1 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972(17) as in force immediately prior to the making of the Local Government (Boundaries) (2008 Act) (Commencement, Transitional Provision and Savings) Order (Northern Ireland) 2013(18);

“the former regulations” means the 2009 Regulations, the 2002 Regulations, the 2000 Regulations, or as the circumstances require, the Local Government (Superannuation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1992, Local Government (Superannuation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1981, Local Government (Superannuation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1962, Local Government (Superannuation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1950 and shall be deemed also, in the case of a member who immediately before 1st April 1973 was subject to the Belfast Corporation Superannuation Scheme to include the provisions of that Scheme;

“the fund” means a superannuation fund established under the Local Government (Superannuation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1950;

“gainful employment” means paid employment for not less than thirty hours in each week for a period of not less than twelve months;

“local government employment” means employment by virtue of which the person employed is or has been a member of the Scheme;

“membership” is to be construed in accordance with Article 121(1) of the Pension (Northern Ireland) Order 1995(19);

“new council” means a district council constituted under section 1 (district councils) of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972) as amended by section 3(1) of the Local Government (Boundaries) Act (Northern Ireland) 2008;

“normal retirement age” in relation to the 2009 Scheme, is 65;

“occupational pension scheme” has the meaning giving by section 150(5) of the Finance Act 2004(20);

“part-time employee” means an employee whose contract of employment provides—

(a)

that the employee is such an employee for the Scheme, or

(b)

who is neither a whole-time employee nor a variable-time employee;

“paternity leave” means leave under regulation 4 or 8 of the Paternity and Adoption Leave Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002(21);

“pension debit” means a debit under Article 26(1)(a) of the 1999 Order or under section 29(1)(a) of 1999 Act;

“pensionable pay” in relation to—

(a)

the 2009 Scheme, has the meaning given in regulation 4 (meaning of “pensionable pay”) of the Benefits Regulations; and

(b)

the Scheme, has the meaning given in regulation 22 (meaning of “pensionable pay”) of the 2014 Regulations, but if circumstances specified in regulation 23(2) (assumed pensionable pay) of the 2014 Regulations apply, references to a member’s pensionable pay are references to that member’s assumed pensionable pay;

“pensioner member” has the meaning given by regulation 9(1) (pensioner members) of the 2014 Regulations;

“public service pension scheme” means has the same meaning as in section 150(3) of the 2004 Finance Act;

“qualifying recognised overseas pension scheme” has the same meaning as in section 169(2) of the 2004 Finance Act;

“qualifying service for a period of 2 years” has the meaning given to it by regulation 3(5) (active membership) of the 2014 Regulations;

“registered pension scheme” has the same meaning as in section 150(2) of the 2004 Finance Act;

“reserve forces service leave” means absence from duty because of being called out or recalled for permanent service in Her Majesty’s armed forces pursuant to a call-out notice served, or a call-out or recall order made, under the Reserve Forces Act 1996(22);

“retirement pension” includes earned pension and additional pension;

“revaluation adjustment” means the consumer prices index of annual inflation published by the Office of National Statistics for the September preceding the end of a Scheme year which is to be applied to the sum in a pension account at the beginning of the next Scheme year;

“the Scheme” means the occupational pension scheme constituted by these Regulations, the 2014 Regulations;

“Scheme year” means a period of one year beginning with 1st April and ending with 31st March;

“service” means service or employment with an employing authority and service rendered by an employee of an employing authority whose services are placed at the disposal of a Minister of the Crown or a Government department in pursuance of any enactment is to be treated as service with an employing authority;

“survivor pension” means a pension payable under regulations 41 (survivor benefits: partners of active members), 43 (survivor benefits: children of active members), 44 (survivor benefits: children of active member where pension is payable to partner of active member), 45 (survivor benefits: children of active member where no pension is payable to partner of active member), 47 (survivor benefits: partners of deferred members), 48 (survivor benefits: children of deferred members), 49 (survivor benefits: children of deferred member where pension is payable to partner of deferred member), 50 (survivor benefits: children of deferred member where pension no is payable to partner of deferred member), 52 (survivor benefits: partners of pensioner members), 53 (survivor benefits: children of pensioner members), 54 (survivor benefits: children of pensioner member where pension is payable to partner of pensioner member) and 55 (survivor benefits: children of pensioner member where pension no is payable to partner of pensioner member) of the 2014 Regulations;

“Tier 1 benefits” has the meaning given by regulation 36(4) (early payment of retirement pension on ill-health grounds: active members) calculated in accordance with regulation 39 (calculation of ill-health pension amounts) of the 2014 Regulations;

“Tier 2 benefits” has the meaning given by regulation 36(5) (early payment of retirement pension on ill-health grounds: active members) calculated in accordance with regulation 39 (calculation of ill-health pension amounts) of the 2014 Regulations;

“trade dispute” has the meaning given in Article 127 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1995(23);

“total membership” means the aggregate of periods of membership which count as such under regulation 3 (active membership) of the 2014 Regulations;

“transfer value payment” means a payment made from the Scheme to another registered pension scheme or qualifying recognised overseas pension scheme, or a payment received by the Scheme from a registered pension scheme or from a European Pensions Institution;

“the Transitional Regulations 2009” means the Local Government Pension Scheme (Amendment and Transitional Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009(24);

“variable-time employee” means an employee whose contract of employment provides that the employee is such an employee for the Scheme and—

(a)

whose pay is calculated by reference to the employee’s duties (rather than necessarily by reference to the number of hours the employee has worked), or

(b)

whose duties only have to be performed on an occasional basis; and

“whole-time employee” means an employee whose contract of employment provides—

(a)

that the employee is such an employee for the Scheme, or

(b)

that the employee’s contractual hours are not less than the number of contractual hours for a person employed in that employment on a whole-time basis.

(1)

1999 c. 30.

(2)

S.I. 1999/3147 (N.I. 11).

(3)

S.R. 2000 No. 177 as amended by S.R 2001 No. 61, S.R. 2001 No. 63, S.R. 2001 No. 64, S.R. 2002 No .115 and S.R. 2002 No. 353.

(4)

S.R. 2002 No. 352 as amended by S.R. 2002 No. 353, S.R. 2004 No.139, S.R. 2005 No. 206, S.R. 2005 No. 274, S.R. 2006 No. 6, S.R. 2006 No. 112, S.R. 2007 No. 152, S.R. 2007 No. 448, S.R. 2007 No. 479 and S.R. 2009 No. 34.

(5)

S.R. 2014 No. 188.

(6)

S.I. 1996/1919 (N.I. 16).

(7)

S.R. 2010 No. 297.

(8)

S.R. 2009 No. 33 as amended by S.R. 2010 No. 164, S.R 2010 No. 410, S.R. 2011 No. 117, S.R. 2012 No. 183 and S.R. 2013 No .71.

(9)

2008 c. 13 (N.I.).

(10)

S.R. 2009 No. 32 as amended by S.R. 2010 No. 164, S.I. 2010/234, S.R 2010 No. 410, S.R. 2011 No. 117, S.R. 2012 No. 85, S.R. 2012 No. 183 and S.R. 2013 No .71.

(11)

1950 c. 10 (N.I.).

(12)

S.R. 1992 No. 547; as amended by other instruments listed in Schedule M3 to the Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 (S.R. 2000 No. 177).

(13)

S.R. 1981 No. 96; as amended by other instruments listed in Schedule 21 to the Local Government (Superannuation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1992 (S.R. 1992 No. 547).

(14)

S.R. & O. (N.I.) 1962 No. 210.

(15)

S.R. & O. (N.I.) 1950 No. 103 (p. 423).

(16)

2005 No. 255 (N.I. 1).

(17)

1972 Chapter 9 (N.I.)

(18)

S.R. 2013 No. 238 (C.15)

(19)

1995 No. 3213 (N.I. 22).

(20)

2004 c. 12.

(21)

S.R. 2002 No. 377.

(22)

1996 c. 14.

(23)

S.I. 1995/1980 (N.I. 12)

(24)

S.R. 2009 No. 34 as amended by S.R 2010 No. 410 and 2013 No .71.