The Superannuation (Local Government and Membership of the House of Commons) Interchange Rules 1969

In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires—

• “the Act of 1937” means the Local Government Superannuation Act 1937;

• “the Act of 1948” means the Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1948;

• “the Act of 1953” means the Local Government Superannuation Act 1953;

• “added years”, in relation to a person in local government employment, means any additional years of service reckonable by him under regulation 12 of the benefits regulations or that regulation as applied by or under any enactment, and includes any additional years of service which, having been granted thereunder, have subsequently become reckonable under or by virtue of any other enactment;

• “benefit” means any superannuation benefit payable to or in respect of any person;

• “the benefits regulations” means the Local Government Superannuation (Benefits) Regulations 19541;

• “contributing service” and “contributory employee” have the same meanings as in the Act of 1937;

• “enactment” includes any instrument made under any enactment;

• “fund authority” means a local authority maintaining a superannuation fund to which a person either became a contributor after creasing to be a Member of the House of Commons or, as the case may be, was last a contributor before he became such a Member;

• “interchange rules” means rules made under section 2 of the Act of 1948;

• “local authority” has the same meaning as in the Act of 1937;

• “local government employment” means employment by virtue of which the person employed is or is deemed to be a contributory employee;

• “the Minister” means the Minister of Housing and Local Government;

• “national service”, in relation to any person, means service which is relevant service within the meaning of the Reserve and Auxiliary Forces (Protection of Civil Interest) Act 1951, and any similar service immediately following relevant service, entered into with the consent of the authority or person by whom he was employed before undertaking that service or, in the case of a person who holds an appointment to an office and is not employed under a contract of employment, with the consent of the authority by whom he was appointed;

• “non-contributing service” has the same meaning as in the Act of 1937;

• “prescribed period” has the meaning assigned to it by rule 3;

• “transfer value regulations” means the Local Government Superannuation (Transfer Value) Regulations 19542;

• “the Trustees” means the Trustees of the Members' Contributory Pension Fund established under Part II of the Ministerial Salaries and Members' Pensions Act 1965;

• “voluntary contributions” means payments made voluntarily by a person while in local government employment or in overseas employment within the meaning of the Superannuation (Local Government and Overseas Employment) Interchange Rules 19583 for the purpose of securing benefits for his widow, children or other dependants and payments (other than payments made in respect of a liability which has been wholly discharged) of any of the following categories:—

  1. i

     additional contributory payments of the kind referred to in section 2(3) and (4) of the Act of 1953;

  2. ii

     any similar payments made under a local Act scheme as a condition of reckoning any period of employment as service or as a period of contribution for the purposes of the scheme or, where the local Act scheme provides for the reckoning of non-contributing service, as contributing service for the purposes of the scheme;

  3. iii

     any payments made for the purpose of increasing the length at which any period of service or of contribution would be reckonable for the purpose of the calculating a benefit under a local Act scheme;

  4. iv

     any payments made in respect of added years.

For the purposes of these rules a justices' clerk shall be deemed to be in the employment of the magistrates' courts committee or committee of magistrates by whom he is, or under the provisions of any enactment is deemed to have been, appointed, and in relation to any such person references to “employment” shall be construed accordingly.

Any references in these rules to a person as a contributory employee, or to contributing service, or to the Act of 1937, the Act of 1953, the benefits regulations, or any provision in any of those enactments in their application to that person shall be deemed to include references to a person as a local Act contributor within the meaning of the Act of 1937 and to a person entitled to participate in the benefits of a superannuation fund maintained under a local Act scheme, or to service for the purposes of a local Act scheme, or to any corresponding local Act or scheme or provision therein in their application to that person.

References in these rules to a numbered rule shall, unless the reference is to a rule of a specified enactment, be construed as references to the rule bearing that number in these rules.

Unless the context otherwise requires, references in these rules to the provisions of any enactment shall be construed as references to those provisions as amended, extended, modified, applied or re-enacted by any subsequent enactment.

The Interpretation Act 1889 shall apply for the interpretation of these rules as it applies for the interpretation of an Act of Parliament.

Subject to the provisions of these rules, the expression “prescribed period”in rules 4 and 8 means a period of 12 months after the date on which a person left local government employment or, as the case may be, ceased to be a Member of the House of Commons, and in the case of a person who immediately after leaving local government employment become engaged in national service, a period of 6 months after the termination of that service.

The reference in the preceding paragraph to a period of 12 months shall be construed in relation to a person to whom section 6 of the Act of 1948 applies (which makes special provision as to local government superannuation during periods of emergency) as a reference to a period of 5 years or such longer period as the Minister may in any particular case allow.

The transfer value payable in respect of a person who left local government employment before 1st April 1968 and who became a Member of the House of Commons before 1st April 1969 shall be calculated by reference to his age at 1st April 1969.

The transfer value payable in respect of a person who becomes a Member of the House of Commons on or after 1st April 1969 and more than 12 months after leaving local government employment shall be calculated by reference to his age on becoming a Member of the House of Commons.

The transfer value payable in respect of a person who had been an established officer or servant within the meaning of the Asylums Officers' Superannuation Act 1909 (in this rule called “the Act of 1909”) shall be calculated as if paragraph (c) had been omitted from the definition of “service” in paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 to the transfer value regulations.

Where the hospital body would have had in respect of any such contribution as aforesaid a right of contribution from any other body, that other body shall pay to the fund authority a sum equal to the transfer value which they would have been liable to pay to the Minister of Health under paragraph (5) of the said regulation 56 if that regulation had become applicable to the person when he became a Member of the House of Commons.

Where any body referred to in paragraph (5) or (6) hereof has been dissolved or has ceased to exercise functions as such, references to that body shall be construed as references to the appropriate authority as defined in paragraph (15) of the said regulation 56.

Notwithstanding anything in the Act of 1937, when this part of these rules becomes applicable to a person, he shall cease to be entitled to any payment out of the superannuation fund administered by the fund authority other than a payment by way of return of voluntary contributions.

Where a person becomes, or before the commencement of these rules became, a Member of the House of Commons after leaving local government employment and these rules have become applicable to him, the authority or body by whom he was employed may, within 6 months after the date on which they are informed by the Trustees of his notification that he desires these rules to apply to him, exercise any discretion which, with a view to increasing the benefits payable to him, exercise any discretion which, with a view to increasing the benefits payable to him, they could have exercised at the time when he left their employment if he had then retired and had been entitled to a retirement pension under regulation 5 of the benefits regulations or (if that regulation was not applicable to him) to any corresponding benefit provided under the superannuation provisions which were applicable to him in that employment.

A decision in the exercise of any discretion under this rule shall be subject to the limitations and restrictions (if any) and to the right of appeal (if any) to which it would have been subject if the discretion had been exercised on the person's retirement in the circumstances aforesaid.

Where a discretion has been exercised under this rule, the service reckonable immediately before he left his former employment by the person in whose favour the discretion has been exercised shall be deemed to have been correspondingly increased, and the transfer value payable in respect of him shall be calculated accordingly.

Any increase in service, if attributable to a decision under this rule to increase benefit otherwise than by any notional increase or extension of the service reckonable for the purpose of calculating benefit, or by treating any specified period of non-contributing service as contributing service or, under a local Act scheme, by similarly converting service of one category to service of another category, shall be ascertained by converting the service in respect of which the higher rate of benefit is payable into contributing service in the manner in which non-contributing service is converted into contributing service under section 2(4) of the Act of 1953.

Where the amount of any transfer value payable under rule 6 is increased in consequence of the exercise by an authority or body of any power conferred upon them by this rule, that authority or body shall repay the amount of the said increase to the superannuation fund out of which the transfer value is payable.

Subject to the provisions of this rule, a person to whom this part of these rules applies shall be entitled to reckon as contributing service such number of completed years and months as having regard to his age and remuneration at the date when he entered local government employment would have produced a transfer value of the amount received under rule 9(b) had he left local government employment in the circumstances described in section 29 of the Act of 1937 at that date.

The reference in the preceding paragraph to a transfer value shall be construed as a reference to a transfer value which is not subject to reduction under regulation 6 of the ransfer value regulations or under any regulations made or having effect as if made under section 110 of the National Insurance Act 1965.

Where any enactment relating to local government superannuation refers, in connection with assessing a return of contributions or a benefit, to the amount of the contributions paid by a person, the amount of the contributions paid by a person to whom this part of these rules applies shall be deemed to be increased, in accordance with the provisions of this rule, to take account of earlier periods of service which became reckonable under rule 10.

Subject to the provisions of this rule, the amount of the increase shall be the amount which would have been payable to him if, on ceasing to be a member of the House of Commons, he had been entitled to a return of contributions without interest.

In this rule “person retaining unmodified status” means a person whose contributions and pension are, by virtue of regulation 9, 9A or 10 of the National Insurance (Modification of Local Government Superannuation Schemes) Regulations 19475 or of interchange rules, not subject to reduction to take into account his entitlement to a retirement pension referred to in section 30 of the National Insurance Act 1965.

Where a person to whom this part of these rules applies was before becoming a member of the House of Commons a person retaining unmodified status in local government employment, and after he became a Member of the House of Commons the Trustees received in respect of preceding local government employment a transfer value which had not been reduced pursuant to regulation 6 of the transfer value regulations, he shall re-enter local government employment as a person retaining unmodified status.

The Trustees may, in respect of a person required to furnish them with particulars in writing of national service, at any time extend, on the application of that person, the period of 3 or of 6 months referred to in rule 5(b) within which he must take such action.

Where a period longer than 12 months is allowed, pursuant to rule 16(1)(a), in respect of any person who has left local government employment, the fund authority may require that person to pay compound interest on any sum paid to him by way of return of contributions (other than voluntary contributions) on or after leaving that employment at a rate of 3% per annum with half-yearly rests for a period beginning either with the date 12 months after the date on which he left that employment or, where this is later, the date on which he received such sum, and ending with the date on which he notified in writing that he desired these rules to apply to him.

The interest payable under this rule shall not exceed a sum equal to one-half of the difference between the transfer value payable under these rules and the transfer value which would be payable if calculated by reference to the person's age on leaving local government employment.