The Civil Partnership (Pensions and Benefit Payments) (Consequential, etc. Provisions) Order (Northern Ireland) 2005

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order makes amendments to provisions of Acts and Orders relating to pensions and benefit payments, extending those provisions to civil partners and surviving civil partners.

Article 1 provides for citation, commencement and interpretation, and Article 2 introduces the Schedule containing the amendments.

Part 1 of the Schedule contains amendments of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 (“the Contributions and Benefits Act”).

• Paragraphs 2 to 5 extend retirement pension provisions in sections 48C, 54, 55 and 62 of the Contributions and Benefits Act relating to spouses and surviving spouses to civil partners and surviving civil partners.

• Paragraph 6 contains amendments of Schedule 5 to the Contributions and Benefits Act. The amendments provide for the rights to a pension increase or a lump sum where entitlement to state retirement pension is deferred to apply to civil partners and surviving civil partners.

Part 2 contains amendments of the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 (“the Administration Act”).

• Paragraphs 8 to 10 extend the duty to furnish addresses for maintenance proceedings, etc. in section 125 of the Administration Act to civil partners and former civil partners, extend the provisions of section 135 to surviving civil partners and amend section 139B of the Administration Act to include surviving civil partners within the provisions on the effect of alterations affecting state pension credit.

Part 3 contains amendments to sections 66, 80, 92, 109, 125, 142, 155A and 176 of, and paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 to, the Pension Schemes (Northern Ireland) Act 1993 to extend provisions in the Act in respect of spouses to civil partners, and in respect of widows or widowers to surviving civil partners.

Part 4 contains amendments to Articles 41, 63, 89, 90 and 121 of the Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 extending certain provisions to civil partners and surviving civil partners.

Part 5 amends Article 49(2) of the Welfare Reform and Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1999, extending the provision on the preservation of rights in respect of additional pensions to surviving civil partners.

Part 6 amends the Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 (“the 2005 Order”).

• Paragraph 29 amends the definition of “pension earmarking order” in Article 20(6) (consequences of freezing order) to include orders made under Part 1 of Schedule 15 to the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (financial relief in the High Court or a county court etc.: Northern Ireland) and Part 1 of Schedule 5 to that Act (financial relief in the High Court or a county court etc.) (England and Wales).

• Paragraph 30 amends the substituted Article 50A of the Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 (resolution of disputes), which is contained in Article 250 of the 2005 Order, extending its provisions to surviving civil partners.

• Paragraph 31 extends a transitional provision in paragraph 21 of Schedule 9 (widowers' entitlement to increase of pension or widowed person’s lump sum) to surviving civil partners.

An assessment of the impact on business, charities or the voluntary sector of the provisions in this Order is included in the Regulatory Impact Assessment that accompanied the Civil Partnership Act 2004. A copy of that assessment has been placed in the libraries of both Houses of Parliament. Copies may be obtained from the DTI website at http://www.dti.gov.uk/access/ria/index.htm#equality.