The War Pensions (Naval Auxiliary Personnel) Scheme 1964

Citation and commencement

1.  This Scheme may be cited as the War Pensions (Naval Auxiliary Personnel) Scheme 1964, and shall come into operation on 1st January 1965.

Definitions

2.  In this Scheme, unless the context otherwise requires—

(1) “the Act” means the Pensions (Navy, Army, Air Force and Mercantile Marine) Act 1939, as amended by the Pensions (Mercantile Marine) Act 1942:

(2) “detention”, in relation to a naval auxiliary member, means detention which—

(a) is consequent on the capture, seizure, arrest or other restraint of the naval auxiliary member or of his ship affected by reason of the existence of a state of war: and

(b) is suffered by reason of his service:

(3) “equivalent naval rank” , in relation to a naval auxiliary member, means the rank which the naval auxiliary member is, by virtue of Article 5 of this Scheme, to be treated as holding for the purposes of this Scheme:

(4) “material date”, in relation to any claim to an award under this Scheme, means the date of the qualifying injury, or of the commencement of the detention, on which the claim to the award is based:

(5) “the Minister” means the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance :

(6) “naval auxiliary member” means a person who—

(a) was subject to the Naval Discipline Act(1) by virtue of section 90 of that Act; and

(b) was, in pursuance of a naval engagement—

(i) employed or engaged in seagoing service in a ship forming part of His Majesty's Navy; or

(ii) temporarily employed or engaged in a Depot Ship forming part of His Majesty's Navy either pending his being employed or engaged in seagoing service in pursuance of that engagement or pending termination of that engagement after he has been employed or engaged in seagoing service in pursuance thereof:

(7) “naval engagement”, in relation to any person, means an engagement with the Admiralty to serve His Majesty—

(a) in a particular ship; or

(b) in a particular ship or such ships as the Admiralty may from time to time determine:

Provided that, where a person entered into two or more successive naval engagements which succeeded each other without an interval, those engagements shall be deemed for the purposes of this Scheme to constitute a single naval engagement:

(8) “the Naval Order” means the Order in Council dated 25th September 1964 concerning pensions and other grants in respect of disablement or death due to service in the naval forces during the 1914 World War and after 2nd September 1939, as for the time being in force, or any Order in Council substituted therefor:

(9) “public funds” means moneys provided by Parliament or the Parliament of Northern Ireland, moneys the payment whereof is a charge on the Consolidated Fund of the United Kingdom or of Northern Ireland, moneys provided by any general or local rate or by a fund established under or by virtue of any public, general or local Act, and moneys payable under any enactment, ordinance, regulation or other instrument forming part of the law of any place outside the United Kingdom:

(10) “qualifying injury”, in relation to a naval auxiliary member, means a war injury or a war risk injury, being in either case an injury sustained by the naval auxiliary member by reason of his service:

(11) “rank” includes rating:

(12) “service”, in relation to a naval auxiliary member, means service after 2nd September 1939, in pursuance of a naval engagement:

(13) “ship forming part of His Majesty's Navy” means a ship of the Royal Navy in commission:

(14) “war injury” and “war risk injury” have the meanings respectively assigned thereto in Schedule 1 to this Scheme.

Interpretation

3.—(1) The rules for the construction of Acts of Parliament contained in the Interpretation Act 1889 shall apply in relation to this Scheme and in relation to the revocation effected by it as if this Scheme and the Scheme revoked by it were Acts of Parliament and as if the revocation were a repeal.

(2) References in this Scheme to any enactment or Order shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be construed as references to that enactment or Order as amended by or under any other enactment or Order, or to any other enactment or Order substituted therefor.

(3) Where a claim under this Scheme other than one specified in the following paragraph of this Article is made, there shall be no onus on the claimant to prove that disablement or death is directly attributable to the relevant qualifying injury or detention and the benefit of any reasonable doubt on those questions shall be given to the claimant.

(4) Where a claim under this Scheme—

(a) in respect of disablement is made more than 7 years after the date of the relevant qualifying injury or end of detention; or

(b) is made in respect of the death of a person, such death having occurred more than 7 years after the date of the relevant qualifying injury or end of detention;

and, upon reliable evidence, a reasonable doubt exists whether the disablement is, or the death was, directly attributable to the relevant qualifying injury or detention, the benefit of that reasonable doubt shall be given to the claimant.

(5) For the purposes of this Scheme, the detention of a naval auxiliary member may be treated as continuing until whichever is the earliest of the following dates, that is to say—

(a) the date of his death; or

(b) the date on which it was first practicable for him to go to the place to which he ought to have gone for the purpose of resuming the performance of his duties under the naval engagement in pursuance of which he was serving at the commencement of the detention; or

(c) the date on which it was first practicable for him, without committing a breach of the naval engagement in pursuance of which he was serving at the commencement of the detention, to return to the country to which he belonged;

or until such other date as the Minister may direct in relation to that naval auxiliary member or to any class of naval auxiliary members.

Persons to whom the Scheme applies

4.—(1) Subject to the provisions of paragraph (3) of this Article, this Scheme applies to any naval auxiliary member whose disablement or death is directly attributable to a qualifying injury or to detention.

(2) This Scheme applies also, subject to the provisions of paragraph (3) of this Article, to any person employed or engaged in a ship forming part of His Majesty's Navy as an enlisted man of the Royal Navy in whose case it was provided on his enlistment that, in the event of his disablement or death being directly attributable to a war injury, war risk injury or detention, compensation would be payable in accordance with the provisions of the Scheme for the time being in force applying the provisions of the Naval Order to naval auxiliary personnel, and, accordingly, any such person shall be treated for the purposes of this Scheme as if he were a naval auxiliary member, the rank in which he was serving in the Royal Navy being treated as his equivalent naval rank and his service after 2nd September 1939 as a man of the Royal Navy being treated as service as a naval auxiliary member.

(3) This Scheme does not apply to any person to whom any Scheme made under section 5(2) of the Act applies.

Equivalent naval ranks

5.—(1) For the purposes of this Scheme, a naval auxiliary member shall be treated as holding on the material date the equivalent naval rank which is specified in Schedule 2 to this Scheme in relation to the capacity, or the capacity and circumstances, in which he was rendering service, and the qualifications which he held, on that date:

Provided that where, in the case of a naval auxiliary member holding a commission granted by His Majesty for the purpose of his service, his commissioned rank was on the material date higher than the rank specified in Schedule 2 to this Scheme in relation to the capacity, or the capacity and circumstances, in which he was rendering service, or the qualifications which he held, on that date, the equivalent naval rank which the naval auxiliary member shall for the purposes of this Scheme be treated as holding on that date shall be his commissioned rank.

(2) Where, on the material date, a naval auxiliary member—

(a) falls to be treated by virtue of the foregoing provisions of this Article as holding an equivalent naval rank which is, in the opinion of the Minister, too low or too high having regard to any circumstances which the Minister may consider relevant to the determination of the equivalent naval rank of that naval auxiliary member; or

(b) was rendering service in a capacity, or in a capacity and circumstances, not specified in Schedule 2 to this Scheme;

that naval auxiliary member shall be treated for the purposes of this Scheme as holding on that date such equivalent naval rank as is, in the opinion of the Minister, appropriate.

(3) Where the disablement or death of a naval auxiliary member is directly attributable, not to a single qualifying injury or period of detention, but to two or more such causes, and different ranks would, by virtue of the foregoing provisions of this Article, be applicable to the different causes of the disablement or death—

(a) any award in respect of a composite assessment made under sub-paragraph ( b) of Article 9(2) of the Naval Order as applied by this Scheme shall be made at a composite rate calculated by reference to the degree of disablement resulting from each such cause and the relevant rank appropriate thereto, so, however, that where the sum of the separate assessments which would have been made in respect of those causes but for the said sub-paragraph exceeds the amount of the composite assessment, the degree of disablement resulting from the cause to which the lower or lowest of those different relevant ranks is appropriate shall, for the purpose of calculating the said composite rate, be treated as reduced by the amount of the excess, and

(b) any award under Part IV of the Naval Order as applied by this Scheme shall be at a rate calculated by reference only to the higher or highest of those different relevant ranks.

Awards for disablement

6.  Where the disablement of a naval auxiliary member is directly attributable to a qualifying injury or to detention, the provisions of the Naval Order, in so far as they concern pensions and other grants in respect of disablement due to service after 2nd September 1939 and modified in the respects indicated in Schedule 3 to this Scheme, shall apply to him so as to secure that, subject to the provisions of this Scheme, there may be made on the termination of the naval engagement in the course of which he sustained the qualifying injury or suffered the detention an award or awards in respect of that disablement of the like nature and amount as would, having regard to his equivalent naval rank, have been made in respect thereof under the Naval Order if he had been a member of the naval forces for the purposes of that Order and his disablement had been due to service as a member of those forces.

Persons previously disabled

7.—(1)  Where a naval auxiliary member who has suffered disablement which is directly attributable to a qualifying injury or to detention (in this Article referred to as the “relevant disablement”) has been awarded a pension or other grant payable out of public funds (otherwise than under this Scheme) in respect of some other disablement however caused, the degree of the relevant disablement shall not exceed the difference between—

(a) the degree of the other disablement determined by reference to the assessment on which payment of the said pension or other grant is being made or, where that payment is not based on any specific assessment, the assessment which, in the opinion of the Minister, having regard to the regulations under which that payment is made, is appropriate to that other disablement; and

(b) the degree at which the relevant disablement and the other disablement, determined as aforesaid, would together have been assessed on a composite assessment if both disablements had fallen to be assessed under the Naval Order as applied by this Scheme.

(2) The Minister may, notwithstanding anything in this Scheme or in the Naval Order as applied by this Scheme, make such award in respect of the relevant disablement as will secure that the aggregate value of the award in respect of that disablement and of the pension or other grant in respect of the other disablement is not less than the value of the award which, if both disablements had come within the scope of this Scheme, would have been made by virtue of Article 5(3) of this Scheme having regard to the equivalent naval rank of the member in relation to the relevant disablement and the rank which is, or should, in the opinion of the Minister, be assumed to be, the basis of the pension or other grant in respect of the other disablement.

(3) The provisions of this Article shall not apply where a naval auxiliary member to whom an award in respect of the relevant disablement may be made has been awarded a pension or other grant payable, in respect of some other disablement however caused, under the National Insurance (Industrial Injuries) Acts 1946 to 1964, or under any legislation in Northern Ireland corresponding to those Acts, or under the law of any place outside the United Kingdom which in the opinion of the Minister is analogous to those Acts.

(4) Where an award may be made under the Naval Order as applied by this Scheme in respect of a member of the disabled person's family in respect of whom an award is not comprised in the pension or other grant in respect of the other disablement, the provisions of this Article shall not apply in relation to that award.

Awards on death

8.—(1) Where the death of a naval auxiliary member is directly attributable to a qualifying injury or to detention, the provisions of the Naval Order, in so far as they concern pensions and other grants in respect of death due to service after 2nd September 1939 and modified in the respects indicated in Schedule 3 to this Scheme, shall apply so as to secure that, subject to the provisions of this Scheme, there may be made an award or awards of the like nature and amount as would, having regard to his equivalent naval rank, have been made under the Naval Order if he had been a member of the naval forces for the purposes of that Order and his death had been due to service as a member of those forces:

Provided that an award under this Article shall not be made where the death of the naval auxiliary member takes place more than 7 years after the date of the relevant qualifying injury or end of detention unless at the date of his death he then was, or at any time previously thereto had been, in receipt of a pension awarded by the Minister under this Scheme or any previous Scheme made under section 5(1) of the Act.

(2) In this Article, the expression “pension” includes a weekly allowance, a gratuity or an allowance in respect of a period of treatment as defined in Article 21(8) of the Naval Order as applied by this Scheme.

Prevention of double payments

9.  Where the Minister is satisfied that a payment (not being a payment in respect of the cost of a funeral) has been or will be made in respect of an injury (whether resulting in disablement or death)—

(a) under section 1 of the Superannuation Act 1887, as amended by section 11 of the Superannuation Act 1935, or by section 9 of the Superannuation Act (Northern Ireland) 1935; or

(b) under or by virtue of section 41 or 56 of the Superannuation Act 1949; or

(c) under any Order in Council relating to pensions for officers of the Royal Fleet Auxiliaries;

no award of a pension, allowance or gratuity on account of any disablement or death which is directly attributable to that injury shall be made under the Naval Order as applied by this Scheme and any such award which has been made shall be cancelled:

Provided that, where the Minister is satisfied that, in respect of any period, the aggregate annual value of the payments which are being or will be made under or by virtue of the said section 1, section 41 or section 56 falls short of the aggregate annual value of the payments which, but for the foregoing provisions of this Article, would have been made in respect of that period under this Scheme or under the Naval Order as applied by this Scheme, the Minister may make such awards under this Scheme or under the Naval Order as applied by this Scheme as he may consider appropriate in order to make good the deficiency.

Modification of awards in certain cases

10.—(1) The rate or amount of any pension, allowance, gratuity or other grant which may be awarded under this Scheme or under the Naval Order as applied by this Scheme to or in respect of a person to whom this Article applies may be reduced to such extent as the Minister may consider appropriate, and (unless the Minister, having regard to any circumstances which seem to him relevant, otherwise directs in relation to a person coming within paragraph (2) (c) or (d) of this Article) shall not exceed two-thirds of the rate or amount which, but for this Article, would have been applicable.

(2) This Article applies to—

(a) any person ordinarily resident outside the United Kingdom who, for the performance of his duties under the naval engagement by virtue of which his case comes within this Scheme, was receiving or due to receive remuneration which is shown to the satisfaction of the Minister to be substantially lower than the remuneration customary in the case of a person ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom who undertakes in the United Kingdom to perform similar duties;

(b) any member of the family of a person coming within subparagraph (a) of this paragraph;

(c) any person whose country of origin is one where the standards of remuneration applicable for his employment are shown to the satisfaction of the Minister to be substantially lower than the standards of remuneration applicable in the United Kingdom for similar employment, and who is resident in that country or in some other country where the standards of remuneration applicable for his employment are shown to the satisfaction of the Minister to be substantially lower than the standards of remuneration applicable in the United Kingdom for similar employment;

(d) any member of the family of a person whose country of origin is as aforesaid, being a member of the family who is resident in the said country or in some other country such as aforesaid.

Power to make lump sum payments

11.  Where, in the case of any person to whom a pension or allowance may be or has been awarded under this Scheme or under the Naval Order as applied by this Scheme, the Minister is satisfied that the payment of a lump sum in lieu of that pension or allowance is justified by the circumstances of the case, the Minister may pay to that person such a lump sum, and any reference in this Scheme or in the Naval Order as applied by this Scheme to a gratuity shall be construed as including a reference to a lump sum under this Article.

Invalidity of assignments

12.  Any assignment or charge, and any agreement to assign or charge, any pension, allowance, gratuity or other grant which may be or has been awarded under this Scheme or under the Naval Order as applied by this Scheme shall, for the purposes of this Scheme, be void.

Determination of medical questions

13.  The provisions of the Naval Order as applied by this Scheme shall apply in relation to any medical question which arises under this Scheme in like manner as they apply in relation to any matter which is required by the Naval Order to be certified and which involves a medical question.

Declarations and certificates

14.—(1) Any person to whom a pension, allowance or gratuity has been awarded under this Scheme or under the Naval Order as applied by this Scheme, and any person to whom payment of that pension, allowance or gratuity is to be made, shall, if and when required by the Minister so to do, subscribe such declaration as the Minister may from time to time direct.

(2) Where a declaration is subscribed under paragraph (1) of this Article by a person who is not the person to whom the pension, allowance or gratuity has been awarded, there shall be furnished, if and when required by the Minister, such certificate as the Minister may from time to time direct.

(3) If such a declaration or certificate as may have been required by the Minister under this Article to be subscribed or furnished is not subscribed or furnished, payment of the pension, allowance or gratuity shall be withheld until the requirements of the Minister under this Article have been satisfied.

Administration of Scheme

15.—(1) The Minister shall be the sole administrator of this Scheme and, subject to the provisions of the Pensions Appeal Tribunals Acts 1943 and 1949(2), all questions with respect to the effect or operation of this Scheme shall be determined by the Minister and his decision thereon shall be final and conclusive.

(2) The Minister may make regulations for giving effect to the purposes of this Scheme.

Revocation of previous Scheme and transitional provisions

16.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this Article, the War Pensions (Naval Auxiliary Personnel) Scheme 1949(3) is hereby revoked.

(2) Any thing made or done under or in pursuance of any provision herein-before revoked shall be deemed to have been made or done under or in pursuance of the corresponding provision of this Scheme, and anything begun under any provision so revoked may be continued under this Scheme as if begun under this Scheme.

(3) (a) Where, immediately before the coming into operation of this Scheme, an allowance granted under Article 12(4) of the Naval Order of 4th June 1946(4), as applied by the War Pensions (Naval Auxiliary Personnel) Scheme 1946(5) as amended by the War Pensions (Naval Auxiliary Personnel) (Amendment) Scheme 1948 (6) in respect of an unmarried dependant living as a wife of a naval auxiliary member was being paid, that allowance may be continued until the conditions for the grant of an allowance under the said Article cease to be fulfilled;

(b) where an allowance has been continued by virtue of subparagraph (a) of this paragraph until the death of the naval auxiliary member, an award may be made under Article 28 of the Naval Order of 4th June 1946, as applied by the War Pensions (Naval Auxiliary Personnel) Scheme 1946, as amended by the War Pensions (Naval Auxiliary Personnel) (Amendment) Scheme 1948 , if and for so long as the conditions for an award under that Article are fulfilled;

(c) an award may be continued under Article 28(4) of the Naval Order of 4th June 1946, as applied by the War Pensions (Naval Auxiliary Personnel) Scheme 1946, as amended by the War Pensions (Naval Auxiliary Personnel) (Amendment) Scheme 1948, to an unmarried dependant living as a wife if, immediately before the coming into operation of this Scheme, she was in receipt of a pension under Article 28(2) or 28(3) of the said Naval Order as so applied and, on the expiration of the period of 12 months beginning with the date of the member's death, or at the date when she ceases to have in her charge a child of the member and to receive an allowance in respect of that child under the provisions of the Naval Order as applied by this scheme, as the case may be, she is in pecuniary need and incapable of self-support.

(4) Any relevant provision of this Scheme or of the Naval Order as applied by this Scheme shall, as from the commencing date of this Scheme, apply to any case where the disablement or death of a naval auxiliary member was directly attributable to a qualifying injury sustained or detention suffered on or after 3rd September 1939, but before the commencing date, whether an award has been made under any previous Scheme or not.

(5) In this Article, the expression “unmarried dependant living as a wife” has the same meaning as in the Naval Order as applied by this Scheme .

Margaret Herbison

Minister of Pensions and National Insurance

14th December 1964

We consent.

G. H. R. Rogers

Ifor Davies

Two of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury

15th December 1964