Part 5 – Miscellaneous
Section 77: Payments into Remploy Limited Pension and Assurance Scheme
245.This section allows for the Secretary of State to make payments into the Remploy Limited Pension and Assurance Scheme, the occupational pension scheme for the organisation Remploy.
246.Remploy is a non-departmental public body that provides employment services for disabled people and those with barriers to work. Its pension scheme is currently funded by Remploy via monies received from the Department for Work and Pensions. The change will enable the Department for Work and Pensions to make payments to the scheme directly.
Section 78: Pension scheme for fee-paid judgesSchedule 5: Pension scheme for fee-paid judges: consequential amendments
247.This section provides for a power under the Judicial Pensions and Retirement Act 1993 to enable the Lord Chancellor to establish a pension scheme for eligible fee-paid judges in the United Kingdom, as required by case law. This is for historic cases only. As things currently stand, the case law requires pensions to be provided in respect of service reaching back to 7 April 2000, but the point is subject to appeal. It also ensures that fee-paid judges who are subsequently appointed to the salaried judiciary are extended the same protection rights as members of existing public service pension schemes as provided for in regulations under the Public Service Pensions Act 2013.
248.Schedule 5 contains amendments. Some of the amendments ensure that pensions under the new scheme for fee-paid judges go up with inflation.
Section 79: Judicial pensions: pension sharing on divorce etc
249.This section corrects the provision of the Judicial Pensions and Retirement 1993 (paragraph 1(5) of Schedule 2A) dealing with pension sharing to ensure that it works correctly for cases where pension sharing is activated after a person has left judicial office. This will apply to both salaried judiciary and eligible fee-paid judges.
Section 80: Public service pension schemes
250.This section makes a small amendment to Schedule 5 of the Public Service Pensions Act 2013, to ensure that the pension schemes relating to the Security Service and Secret Intelligence Service are not caught within that Act’s definition of “existing scheme” and so forced to close on 1 April 2015. It is brought into force upon Royal Assent by section 89, to ensure that no risk of forced closure of the Security Service and Secret Intelligence Service schemes arises on 1 April 2015.
Section 81: Extension to Scotland of certain provisions about marriage of same sex couples
251.Section 38A of the Pension Schemes Act 1993 inserted by the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 enables regulations to be made in relation to the administration of survivor benefits in a ‘relevant gender change’ case. This section extends section 38A to Scotland and makes minor consequential amendments so that regulations made under section 38A can apply to Scotland.
Section 82: Pension sharing and normal benefit age
252.When a pension is shared on divorce, the former spouse’s or civil partner’s share may (or, in the case of unfunded public service schemes must) be retained in the pension scheme as a pension credit benefit. Schemes must have a normal benefit age when they start to pay the pension credit benefit. At the moment this must be between 60 and 65.
253.As longevity increases, some pension schemes will start to increase their normal pension age above 65. This section amends section 101C of the Pension Schemes Act 1993 to allow a pension scheme to increase its normal benefit age for a pension share to a permitted maximum. The permitted maximum is 65, or if higher, the highest normal pension age for any benefit payable to, or in respect of, ordinary members of the scheme.
254.The section also amends section 101B of the Pension Schemes Act 1993 to provide a new definition of “normal benefit age” and “normal pension age”.
