The Local Government Pension Scheme and Discretionary Compensation (Local Authority Members in England) Regulations 2003

Citation, commencement and application

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Local Government Pension Scheme and Discretionary Compensation (Local Authority Members in England) Regulations 2003 and shall come into force on 1st May 2003.

(2) These Regulations apply only to England(1).

Amendment of The Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 1997

2.  The Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 1997(2) shall be amended in accordance with regulations 3 to 8 of these Regulations.

Re-employed and rejoining deferred members

3.  In regulation 32 (re-employed and rejoining deferred members), for paragraph (2) substitute—

“(2) But an election may only be made—

(a) by a Class B member as respects former Class B membership or Class C membership;

(b) by a Class C member as respects former Class C membership; and

(c) by a councillor member as respects former councillor membership.”.

Eligibility: members of local authorities

4.  In regulation 131(3) (further cases of eligibility: non-employees)—

(a) in paragraph (2), after sub-paragraph (g) add the following—

“(h) an eligible councillor”; and

(b) after paragraph (14), add the following—

“(15) If a councillor member is an active member, he shall be treated as being in the whole-time employment of the local authority of which he is a member and references to employment by or under such an employer and all similar expressions shall be construed accordingly.”.

Modifications for councillor members

5.  After regulation 137 (certain City of London employees and former contributors), insert the following—

“Councillor Members

Members of local authorities—general

137A.   These Regulations apply to councillor members in respect of their councillor membership with the modifications set out in Schedule 8.”.

Interpretation

6.  In Schedule 1—

(a) after the definition of “contributory employee” insert—

““Councillor member” means a person who is a member of the Scheme by reason of being an eligible councillor;

“Councillor membership” means any period of membership which counts in respect of service as a member of a local authority and not other local government employment;”; and

(b) after the definition of “eligible child” insert—

““eligible councillor” means a member of a local authority in England who is eligible under or by virtue of regulations made under section 18 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989(4) (schemes for allowances) to be a member of the Scheme;”.

Schedule 3—Excluded Membership

7.  In Schedule 3—

(a) at the end of the Table add—

“7.   Membership which is not councillor membership	Calculating total membership for a councillor member in respect of being entitled to or calculating any benefit in relation to his councillor membership or calculating NRD under regulation 25(3A).
8.   Councillor membership	Calculating total membership for a person in respect of being entitled to or calculating any benefit in relation to his membership which is not councillor membership or calculating NRD under regulation 25(3A).”; and

(b) at the end of the Notes to the Table add—

“(6) Paragraphs 7 and 8 shall be disregarded for the purposes of paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 and paragraph 7 shall be disregarded for the purposes of paragraph 1 of Schedule 8.”.

Schedule 8—Eligible councillors

8.  After Schedule 7 insert as Schedule 8 the schedule set out in the Schedule to these Regulations.

The Local Government (Discretionary Payments) Regulations 1996 and The Local Government (Early Termination of Employment) (Discretionary Compensation) (England and Wales) Regulations 2000

9.—(1) The Local Government (Discretionary Payments) Regulations 1996(5) shall be amended—

(a) in regulation 33, by inserting after paragraph (1)—

“(1A) But “relevant employment” shall not include any period as a councillor member, the Mayor of London or a member of the London Assembly which is treated as employment for the purposes of the LGPS Regulations.”; and

(b) in regulation 39(3), by deleting “or” after sub-paragraph (e) and adding after sub-paragraph (f)—

“; or

(g) as a councillor member, the Mayor of London or a member of the London Assembly which is treated as employment for the purposes of the LGPS Regulations.”.

(2) The Local Government (Early Termination of Employment) (Discretionary Compensation) (England and Wales) Regulations 2000(6) shall be amended by substituting for the definition of “excluded employment” in Schedule 1 the following—

““Excluded employment” means—

(a)

a period of employment—

(i)

in an independent school (within the meaning of section 463 of the Education Act 1996)(7); or

(ii)

in relation to which a pension or other benefits (other than a refund of contributions) is being or has been paid under an occupational pension scheme; or

(b)

a period as—

(i)

the Mayor of London,

(ii)

a member of the London Assembly, or

(iii)

a councillor member

in respect of which the person is treated as being in employment for the purposes of the Pension Regulations.”.

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State

Nick Raynsford

Minister of State,

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

7th April 2003