The Firefighters’ Pension Scheme (Transitional and Consequential Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015

3.  In Part 3 (personal awards)—

(a) in article 11 (ordinary pension) after paragraph (1) insert—

“(1A) Subject to paragraph (2), this article applies to a connected member of this Scheme who was a firefighter member of this Scheme and satisfies an eligibility condition and retires from scheme employment in the 2015 Scheme having reached normal retirement age under this Scheme.”;

(b) in article 11A(1) (special member’s ordinary pension) after paragraph (1) insert—

“(1A) Subject to paragraph (2), this article applies to a connected special member of this Scheme who satisfies a special eligibility condition and retires from scheme employment in the 2015 Scheme having reached normal retirement age.”;

(c) after article 11A (special member’s ordinary pension) insert—

“Continued pension

11B.   Where a connected member, or connected special member, is entitled to an equivalent amount to the NFPS lower tier ill-health pension under regulation 73(4)(a) (entitlement to lower tier ill-health pension and higher tier ill-health pension) of the 2015 Regulations and that member reaches normal retirement age under this Scheme, that member is entitled to a continued pension of an amount equal to the annual rate of the equivalent amount to the NFPS lower tier ill-health pension.”;

(d) in article 13(2) (deferred pension) after paragraph (1) insert—

“(1A) Subject to paragraph (7), this article applies to a person who ceases to be a firefighter member or a special firefighter member under article 4B (cessation of firefighter membership and special firefighter membership) of Part 2.

(1B) Subject to paragraph (7), this article applies to a connected member, or a connected special member, who—

(a) opts out of pensionable service in the 2015 Scheme,

(b) leaves scheme employment under the 2015 Scheme before reaching normal retirement age, or

(c) ceases to be entitled to a lower tier ill-health pension or a higher tier ill-health pension under the 2015 Scheme in consequence of a review under regulation 77 (consequences of review) of the 2015 Regulations and declines an offer of employment made by the Board referred to in regulation 77(3)(b) of those Regulations.

(1C) This article ceases to apply to a connected member who re-joins the 2015 Scheme after a gap in pensionable service not exceeding 5 years.”;

(e) in article 14 (cancellation of deferred pension)—

(i) in paragraph (1) for “Where” substitute “Subject to paragraph (4), where”;

(ii) after paragraph (3) insert—

“(4) Where the person entitled to receive a deferred pension is not a protected member of this Scheme, the member may not instruct the Board to cancel the deferred pension.

(5) Where the person entitled to receive a deferred pension was a connected member of this Scheme and re-joins the 2015 Scheme after a gap in pensionable service not exceeding 5 years, the Board must cancel the deferred pension.”;

(f) in article 16(3) (pension on Board-initiated retirement) after paragraph (3) insert—

“(4) Where the Board is considering making a determination under regulation 70 (employer initiated retirement) of the 2015 Regulations that an active member of that scheme who has attained the age of 55 should receive the payment of a pension without the early payment reduction, the Board must also consider making a determination under paragraph (1).”;

(g) in article 17(4) (entitlement to two pensions) after paragraph (9) insert—

“(10) Where a person to whom this article applies is a person to whom paragraph (5B) of article 61 of Part 11 applies, this article applies with the substitution in paragraph (4) for “final pensionable pay to which he is entitled on the last day of his membership of the Scheme” with “final pensionable pay as modified by paragraph (5B) or (5C) of article 61 of Part 11”.”;

(h) in article 17C(5) (additional pension benefit: supplementary provisions)—

(i) after paragraph (2) insert—

“(2A) Where article 4B of Part 2 applies to a person (P) who is not a connected member or entitled to the payment of an ill-health award under regulation 73 (entitlement to lower tier ill-health pension and higher tier ill-health pension) of the 2015 Regulations, additional pension benefit is payable at normal benefit age, paragraphs (4) to (6) of article 13 (deferred pension) shall apply in relation to that benefit as if it were a deferred pension to which P was entitled under that article.”;

(ii) after paragraph (3) insert—

“(3A) Where the firefighter member is entitled to an ill-health award under regulation 73 of the 2015 Regulations, additional pension benefit is payable under this Scheme at the same time as the equivalent amount to the NFPS lower tier ill-health pension is payable under the 2015 Scheme.”;

(i) in article 19(6) (commutation: general)—

(i) in paragraph (1) for “Subject to paragraphs (3) and (4)” substitute “Subject to paragraphs (1B), (3) and (4)”;

(ii) after paragraph (1) insert—

“(1A) This article applies to an equivalent amount of the NFPS lower tier ill-health pension included in the annual rate of a retirement pension for the person under regulation 68(2)(ba) of the 2015 Regulations may commute a portion of it for a lump sum.

(1B) Where a person is entitled to a continued pension under article 11B, that person may not commute a portion of that pension under this article.”.

(j) in article 21 (allocation of pension) in paragraph (1) after “A firefighter member” insert “, a connected member or a connected special member”.

(1)

Article 11A was inserted by S.R. 2015 No. 9.

(2)

Article 13 was amended by S.R. 2015 No. 9.

(3)

Article 16 was amended by S.R. 2015 No. 9.

(4)

Article 17 was amended by S.R. 2015 No. 9.

(5)

Article 17C was inserted by S.R. 2008 No. 381.

(6)

Article 19 was amended by S.R. 2015 No. 9.