Parliamentary and Other Pensions Act 1972

Part II U.K. Prime Minister, Speaker and Lord Chancellor

26 Pensions of Prime Minister and Speaker. U.K.

(1) Any person who has (whether before or after the passing of this Act) been appointed Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury or elected Speaker of the House of Commons and has after 1st April 1972 (whether before of after the passing of this Act) ceased to be Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury, or ceased to be Speaker, as the case may be, shall, subject to the next following subsection, be entitled to receive a pension under this section.

(2) No pension shall be payable under this section to any person so long as he is in receipt of any salary payable out of the Consolidated Fund or out of the revenues of the Duchy of Lancaster, or so long as he is in receipt of any salary payable out of moneys provided by Parliament other than a salary or allowance payable out of moneys so provided in respect of his membership of the House of Commons.

(3) Subject to sections 29 and 31 of this Act, the annual amount of a pension payable to a person under this section in respect of the office of Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury shall be £7,500.

(4) Subject to sections 29 and 31 of this Act, the annual amount of a pension payable to a person under this section in respect of the office of Speaker of the House of Commons shall be £6,500.

(5) Any pension payable under this section shall be charged on and paid out of the Consolidated Fund.

27 Pensions for dependants of Prime Minister or Speaker. U.K.

(1) In relation to a person who has held office as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury or as Speaker of the House of Commons at any time after 1st April 1972 (whether before or after the passing of this Act) and has died (whether before or after the passing of this Act) [F1 the designated provisions shall have effect as if—

(a) at the time of his death that person had been entitled in respect of service as a Member of the House of Commons to receive a pension payable under the provisions of the Parliamentary pension scheme out of the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund;

(b) the annual amount of that pension had been an amount equal to the annual amount of such pension calculated in accordance with subsection (3) or (in the case of a person who held office as Speaker) subsection (4) of section 26 of this Act as would have been payable to him at the time of his death if he had ceased to hold office immediately before his death and subsection (2) of that section and section 31 of this Act were disregarded; and

(c) references in the designated provisions to the trustees of the Fund were references to the Treasury.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1) above the designated provisions are such of the provisions contained in the Parliamentary pension scheme as—

(a) have effect for the purposes of, or in connection with, the payment out of the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund of a pension in respect of service as a Member of the House of Commons—

(i) to the widow or widower of a person with such service; or

(ii) for the benefit of any children of any person; and

(b) are designated for the purposes of this section by regulations made by the Leader of the House of Commons.

(2A) The power to make regulations designating any provisions for the purposes of this section shall be exercisable by statutory instrument subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.]

(3) Any pension payable under this section shall be charged on and paid out of the Consolidated Fund.

(4) In this section any reference to an amount calculated in accordance with subsection (3) or subsection (4) of section 26 of this Act shall be construed as a reference to whichever is the greater of the following amounts, that is to say—

(a) the amount specified in that subsection, and

(b) the amount so specified as increased under section 29 of this Act.

[F2 (5) In this section—

• “children” includes adopted children, stepchildren and illegitimate children; and

• “the Leader of the House of Commons” and “the Parliamentary pension scheme” have the same meanings as in the Parliamentary and other Pensions Act 1987.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Words substituted by Parliamentary and other Pensions Act 1987 (c. 45, SIF 89), ss. 2, 6, Sch. 3 paras. 1(4), 4(1)(3)

F2 S. 27(5) inserted by Parliamentary and other Pensions Act 1987 (c. 45, SIF 89), ss. 2, 6, Sch. 3 paras. 1(4), 4(2)(3)

28 Pension of Lord Chancellor. U.K.

(1) Subject to sections 29 and 31 of this Act, the annual amount of any pension granted under section 3 of the M1 Lord Chancellor’s Pension Act 1832 shall, in the case of a person resigning the office of Lord Chancellor after 1st April 1972 (whether before or after the passing of this Act), be £8,500.

(2) In accordance with the preceding subsection section 3 of the M2 Lord Chancellor’s Pension Act 1832 shall be amended by substituting, for the words “£6,250 of lawful money of Great Britain” and for the words “the sum of £6,250”, the words “an amount calculated in accordance with subsection (1) of section 28 of the Parliamentary and other Pensions Act 1972 and the provisions (other than this Act) referred to in that subsection.”

(3) Any Letters Patent issued under that Act before the passing of this Act shall have effect subject to subsection (1) of this section.

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 The text of s. 28(2) is in the form in which it was originally enacted: it was not reproduced in Statutes in Force and does not reflect any amendments or repeals which may have been made prior to 1.2.1991

Marginal Citations

M1 1832 c. 111.

M2 1832 c. 111.

29 Preservation of ratio between salary and pension. U.K.

(1) For the purposes of the application of section 26, section 27 or section 28 of this Act in relation to a person who ceases to hold an office specified in any of those sections at any time after the passing of this Act when an increased salary is payable in respect of that office, or who dies at any such time, the relevant subsection shall have effect as if, for the amount specified in it, there were substituted an amount calculated in accordance with the following provisions of this section.

(2) The amount to be so substituted, in relation to the holder of any such office, shall be an amount bearing the same proportion to the amount specified in the relevant subsection as the increased salary payable in respect of that office immediately before he ceases to hold it, or immediately before his death, as the case may be, bears to the present salary.

[F3 (2A) Her Majesty may from time to time by Order in Council direct that any increased salary specified in the Order shall be regarded for the purposes of subsection (2) of this section as being payable at such higher rate as may be so specified; but no recommendation shall be made to Her Majesty to make an Order under this subsection unless a draft of the Order has been approved by resolution of each House of Parliament or, if it relates only to an increased salary payable in respect of the office of Speaker of the House of Commons, by resolution of that House.

An Order in Council made under this subsection may be varied or revoked by a subsequent Order so made.]

(3) In this section—

(a) in relation to the office of Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury or the office of Speaker of the House of Commons,

• “the present salary” means the salary which under the M3 Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1972 is payable in respect of that office at the passing of this Act;

• “increased salary”, in relation to any time after the passing of this Act, means the salary payable in respect of that office as for the time being increased under section 1(4) of that Act; and

• “the relevant subsection” means subsection (3) or subsection (4) of section 26 of this Act, as the case may be;

(b) in relation to the office of Lord Chancellor,

• “the present salary” means the aggregate of the salaries which at the passing of this Act are payable to the Lord Chancellor in respect of his tenure of that office and as Speaker of the House of Lords;

• “increased salary”, in relation to any time after the passing of this Act, means the aggregate of those salaries as for the time being increased under section 1(4) of the M4 Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1972; and

• “the relevant subsection” means subsection (1) of section 28 of this Act.

Textual Amendments

F3 S. 29(2A) inserted by Parliamentary and other Pensions and Salaries Act 1976 (c.48), s. 5

Marginal Citations

M3 1972 c. 3.

M4 1972 c. 3.

F4 30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . U.K.

Textual Amendments

F4 Ss. 30, 31(5), 33, 34, 36(1)(2)(4), Schs. 1–4 repealed (with saving) by Parliamentary and other Pensions Act 1987 (c. 45, SIF 89), ss. 2, 6, Sch. 2, Sch. 3 para. 1(4), Sch. 4

S. 30 (as saved) revoked (21.1.1994) (with reg. R5, Sch. 7 Pt. III) by S.I. 1993/3253, reg. R5, Sch. 7 Pt.1