The Local Government Pension Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 1998

Purchase of added years

Payments to increase total membership

54.—(1) An active member may elect to make additional contributions to the Scheme to increase his total membership by an additional period.

(2) That period must not exceed the maximum addition under Schedule 4.

(3) The election must be made by giving notice in writing to the appropriate administering authority earlier than the member’s 64th birthday.

(4) If–

(a) the member’s appropriate administering authority pass a resolution requiring him to satisfy them that he is in reasonably good health by producing to them a report by a registered medical practitioner of the results of a medical examination undertaken at the member’s own expense; but

(b) they are not so satisfied,

the election is void.

(5) The amounts of the additional contributions must be such percentage of the members’s pay for the time being as is shown as appropriate in guidance issued by the Government Actuary.

(6) A member’s pay for the time being is the pay received by him for the interval at the end of which the additional contribution falls to be paid.

(7) Where a member is away from work (otherwise than because of illness or injury) with reduced or no pay, for paragraph (6) he is treated as having received the pay he would have received if he had not been away (unless his contract of employment has ceased).

(8) For paragraph (6) any reduction in pay by reason of the actual or assumed enjoyment by the member of any statutory entitlement during any period he is away from work (other than a period of maternity absence) shall be disregarded.

(9) If a member continues paying the additional contributions until his last birthday before his NRD (or if his NRD is his birthday, that date), the whole of the additional period may be counted as part of his total membership.

(10) Otherwise, the part of that period which may be so counted must be calculated as specified in regulation 82 (discontinuance of additional contributions).

(11) The additional contributions are payable from the member’s next birthday after his election.

Part-time employees

55.—(1) If a person in a part-time employment elects under regulation 54, the periods mentioned in that regulation must be reduced in the proportion that his contractual hours bear to the number of contractual hours of a single comparable whole-time employment.

(2) But the amounts of his additional contributions must be calculated as a percentage of his actual pay (subject to regulation 54(7) and (8)).

(3) Where any person has made such an election, if–

(a) his employment ceases to be part-time and becomes whole-time employment;

(b) his employment ceases to be whole-time and becomes part-time employment; or

(c) his contractual hours in the part-time employment alter,

his additional contributions continue to be payable at the same percentage of his pay, but the additional period counted by reason of contributions paid after the change must be calculated as if the change had occurred immediately before the election.

(4) Paragraphs (1) to (3) do not apply to old elections.

(5) However, the member may elect for paragraph (2) to apply to an old election and, if he does so, the additional period counted by reason of contributions paid after that election must be calculated as if paragraphs (1) to (3) had always applied as respects his old election.

(6) A member’s election under paragraph (5) must be made by giving notice in writing to the appropriate administering authority not later than one year before his NRD.

(7) Old elections are elections made before 21st December 1987.

Effect of increases under this Chapter for older members

56.  Regulation 53 applies as respects additional periods counted under the previous provisions of this Chapter as it applies as respects additional periods counted under Chapter II.