House of Commons Members Fund and Parliamentary Pensions Act 1981

1 Right of certain past Members and widows or widowers of such Members to payments out of House of Commons Members' Fund.

(1) The trustees of the House of Commons Members' Fund shall make periodical payments out of the Fund to persons who—

(a) are eligible or treated as eligible by virtue of this section as past members or as the widows or widowers of past members; and

(b) have at any time after the passing of this Act applied to the trustees for such payments.

(2) A person who is not disqualified for payments under this section is eligible to receive such payments—

(a) as a past member, if he satisfies the conditions of this section as to service and qualifies by reason of age or infirmity;

(b) as the widow of a past member, if the past member satisfied the conditions of this section as to service; and

(c) as the widower of a past member, if the past member satisfied the conditions of this section as to service and the widower qualifies by reason of infirmity.

(3) The conditions as to service are that the past member was a member for periods which together amount to ten years or more and was not a member at any time after 15th October 1964.

(4) A person qualifies by reason of age if he is at least sixty-five years old, and by reason of infirmity if, in the opinion of the trustees, he is incapable, through bodily or mental infirmity, of earning his living.

(5) A person is disqualified—

(a) for receiving payments under this section as the widow or widower of a past member, if that person is married ; and

(b) for receiving any payments under this section, if he is the holder of a qualifying office (as defined in section 2 of the [1972 c. 48.] Parliamentary and other Pensions Act 1972) or is in receipt of a pension under that Act or under the [1965 c. 58.] Ministerial Salaries Consolidation Act 1965 or of an annuity settled by any Act on a former Speaker and, after his death, on his wife.

(6) The Government Actuary shall, if the trustees so request, make to them and to the Treasury a report estimating—

(a) on such information as the trustees are able to supply; and

(b) on such assumptions as to the amount of the annual contributions under section 1 of the [1957 c. 24.] House of Commons Members' Fund Act 1957 as appear to the Government Actuary appropriate after consulting the Treasury,

the number (if any) of past members or their widows or widowers to whom payments under this section could be made, in addition to payments to persons eligible to receive them, without affecting payments under section 1 of the [1939 c. 49.] House of Commons Members Fund Act 1939 ; and if the trustees, in special circumstances, see fit to do so, they may, within the limit of the numbers so estimated, treat persons as eligible to receive such payments who would be so eligible but for the fact that the periods of service of the past member concerned amount to less than ten years.

(7) In this section " member " means member of the House of Commons and " the trustees " means the trustees of the House of Commons Members' Fund.