Social Security Pensions Act 1975

Increase of pension where pensioner defers retirement

1 Where a person defers his retirement from regular employment after attaining pensionable age, the rate of his Category A or Category B retirement pension shall be increased by an amount equal to the aggregate of the increments to which he is entitled under paragraph 2 below, but only if that amount is enough to increase the rate of the pension by at least 1 per cent.

2 (1) Subject to paragraph 3 below, a person is entitled to an increment under this paragraph for each complete incremental period in his period of deferment.

(2) In this Schedule—

(a) " incremental period " means any period of six consecutive days, excluding Sunday (Monday therefore being treated as the next consecutive day following Saturday); and

(b) " period of deferment", in relation to any person, means the period beginning with the day on which he attains pensionable age and ending with the day before that of his retirement.

(3) Subject to paragraph 3 below, the amount of the increment for any such incremental period shall be 1/8th per cent, of the weekly rate of the Category A or Category B retirement pension to which that person would have been entitled for the period if he had retired on attaining pensionable age.

(4) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (3) above the weekly rate of the pension for any period shall be taken to be the rate that would have applied on the last day of that period, including any increase under section 28(7) of the principal Act (invalidity) and any increase under paragraph 4 below but not any increase under section 41, 45 or 46 of the principal Act (child and adult dependants) or any graduated retirement benefit.

(5) Where one or more orders have come into force under section 124 of the principal Act (increases in rates of benefit) during the period of deferment the rate for any incremental period shall be determined under sub-paragraph (4) above as if the order or orders had come into force before the beginning of the period of deferment.

3 Regulations may provide that a day shall be treated in relation to any person or his pension as not being a day of increment and—

(a) if any incremental period in that person's period of deferment consists wholly of days that fall to be so treated in relation to him or his pension, he shall not be entitled to any increment for that incremental period under sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 2 above ;

(b) if any such incremental period contains one or more such days, the amount of the increment for the period under sub-paragraph (3) of that paragraph shall be proportionately reduced.