Parliamentary Pensions etc. Act 1984

4 Earlier entitlement to pension

(1) In relation to any person who has been a Member of the House of Commons at a time after the passing of this Act or has at any such time held a qualifying office, sections 7(4) and 10(4) of the 1972 Act (payment of a reduced pension to a person who has not attained the age of 65 years but has attained the age of 60 years) shall have effect as if for the words " sixty years " there were substituted the words

“fifty years”.

(2) In section 7(4A) of the 1972 Act (full pension payable to person who, having attained the age of 62 years and completed 25 years' service, ceases to be a Member at a dissolution)—

(a) in paragraph (b)—

(i) for the words " sixty-two years " there shall be substituted the words

“sixty years”; and

(ii) for the words " twenty-five years ", in both places where they occur, there shall be substituted the words

“twenty years”; and

(b) for paragraph (c) there shall be substituted the following paragraph—

“(c) is not or was not a candidate for election to that House at the general election consequent upon the dissolution or was such a candidate but was not elected to that House,”; and

(c) for the words " day of the poll in the general election consequent upon the dissolution " there shall be substituted the words

“period of six months beginning with the day of the dissolution”.

(3) The Lord President of the Council may by order made by statutory instrument make provision in relation to the dissolution of Parliament on 13th May 1983 and any subsequent dissolution—

(a) for extending entitlement to a pension under subsection (4A) of section 7 of the 1972 Act to persons in relation to whom the conditions specified in paragraph (b) of that subsection are not satisfied or are satisfied only in part;

(b) for any entitlement to a pension conferred by an order made by virtue of paragraph (a) above to be subject to such abatement as may be specified in, or determined under, the order.

(4) An order under subsection (3) above may—

(a) make different provision for different cases ; and

(b) be framed by reference to the opinion of the Trustees or to their approval or require any matter to be established to their satisfaction ; and a statutory instrument containing an order made under that subsection shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

(5) Without prejudice to the power conferred by subsection (3) above, the amendments made by paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (2) above shall be deemed to have come into force on 12th May 1983 but, in relation to the dissolution of Parliament on 13th May 1983, the said section 7(4A), as amended by those paragraphs, shall have effect (except in the case of a person who became entitled to receive a pension by virtue of the said section 7 (4A) before the passing of this Act) with the following modifications—

(a) for the words " day of the poll in the general election consequent upon the dissolution " there shall be substituted the words

“period of six months beginning with the date of the passing of the Parliamentary Pensions etc. Act 1984”;

(b) after the word " stand " there shall be inserted the words

“(and since that general election has not stood)”; and

(c) for the words " time when that salary ceases to be payable " there shall be substituted the words

“passing of the said Act of 1984”.

(6) A person already in receipt of a pension by virtue of subsection (4) of section 7 of the 1972 Act (" the reduced pension ") shall not by reason of his being in receipt of that pension be precluded from becoming entitled to receive a pension by virtue of subsection (5) above (" the full pension "); but where such a person becomes so entitled—

(a) that person shall cease to be entitled to receive the reduced pension as from the time as from which he becomes entitled to receive the full pension ;

(b) the annual amount of the full pension shall be calculated as if any lump sum paid to that person under section 11 of that Act in commutation of the reduced pension had been paid in commutation of the full pension; and

(c) the permitted maximum for the purposes of subsection (4) of the said section 11 shall, in relation to the commutation under that section of any part of the full pension, be treated as reduced by the amount of any lump sum paid to that person under that section in commutation of the reduced pension.

(7) In section 9 of the 1972 Act (pensions for office holders), in subsection (1), for the words from " to (d) " onwards there shall be substituted the words " and (b) of section 7(1) of this Act and one of the following conditions are fulfilled in respect of him, that is to say—

(a) he has attained the age of sixty-five years ; or

(b) he has, by virtue of section 7(4A) of this Act, become entitled to receive a pension under section 7 of this Act;

and the time as from which the condition in paragraph (6) of this subsection is to be treated as fulfilled in respect of any person is the time as from which a pension becomes payable to that person by virtue of the said section 7(4A).".

(8) Accordingly, in section 25(2)(b) of the 1972 Act (meaning of " basic or prospective pension or pensions "), for the words from " to (d) of section 7(1) " onwards there shall be substituted the words

“and (b) of section 7(1) and paragraph (a) of section 9(1) of this Act”.