The British Transport (Compensation to Employees) Regulations 1970

PART I PRELIMINARY

Citation and commencement

1.—(1) These regulations may be cited as the British Transport (Compensation to Employees) Regulations 1970.

(2) These regulations shall come into operation 14 days after a draft thereof has been approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament and shall have effect from the 18th November 1968.

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires, the following expressions have the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them, that is to say:—

“accrued pension”, in relation to a pensionable officer who has suffered loss or diminution of pension rights, means—

(a)

if his last relevant pension scheme provided benefits in which he had a right to participate, the pension to which he would have become entitled in respect of his pensionable service according to the method of calculation, modified where necessary for the purpose of giving effect to these regulations, prescribed by that scheme if, at the date on which he suffered the said loss or diminution, he had attained normal retiring age and complied with any requirement of that scheme as to a minimum period of qualifying service or contribution and completed any additional contributory payments or payments in respect of added years which he was in the course of making; and

(b)

in any other case, such portion of the pension (if any) of which he had reasonable expectations as the compensating authority consider equitable, having regard to his age, the length of his employment at the date of loss or diminution and all the other circumstances of the case

;

“accrued retiring allowance” , in relation to a pensionable officer who has suffered loss or diminution of pension rights, means—

(a)

if his last relevant pension scheme provided benefits in which he had a right to participate, any lump sum payment to which he would have become entitled in respect of his pensionable service according to the method of calculation, modified where necessary for the purpose of giving effect to these regulations, prescribed by that scheme if, at the date on which he suffered the said loss or diminution, he had attained normal retiring age and complied with any requirement of that scheme as to a minimum period of qualifying service or contribution and completed any additional contributory payments or payments in respect of added years which he was in the course of making; and

(b)

in any other case, such portion of the lump sum payment (if any) of which he had reasonable expectations as the compensating authority consider equitable, having regard to his age, the length of his employment at the date of loss or diminution and all the other circumstances of the case

;

“accrued incapacity pension” and “accrued incapacity retiring allowance” have the same respective meanings as “accrued pension” and “accrued retiring allowance” except that the reference to a person's attaining normal retiring age shall be construed as a reference to his becoming incapable of discharging efficiently the duties of his employment by reason of permanent ill-health or infirmity of mind or body;

“the Act” means the Transport Act 1968;

“added years” means years purchased under the provisions of the last relevant pension scheme for the purpose of being reckoned as pensionable service and includes any additional years of service which, having been granted under any enactment or scheme, have subsequently become and are so reckonable under or by virtue of rules made under section 2 of the Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1948, or any other enactment ;

“additional contributory payments” means—

(a)

any additional contributory payments made under a pension scheme as a condition of reckoning any period of employment as service or as a period of contribution for the purposes of the scheme, or, where the scheme provides for the reckoning of non-contributing service, as contributing service for the purposes of the scheme; or

(b)

any payments made for the purpose of increasing the length at which any period of service or of contribution would be reckonable for the purpose of calculating a benefit under a pension scheme; or

(c)

any payments similar to any of those mentioned in the foregoing sub-paragraphs made in pursuance of rules under section 2 of the Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1948;

“attributable loss”, in relation to a person who suffers loss of employment, or loss or diminution of emoluments or pension rights, or worsening of his position, means any such loss, diminution or worsening as aforesaid which is properly attributable to the happening of the relevant event;

“the Boards” has the same meaning as in section 159(1) of the Act, and “a Board” means any of the Boards;

“the Bus Company” means the National Bus Company established under section 24 of the Act;

“the Commission” means the British Transport Commission;

“compensating authority” has the meaning assigned to that expression in regulation 4;

“compensation question” means a question arising in relation to these regulations—

(a)

as to a person's entitlement to compensation for loss of employment, or for loss or diminution of emoluments or pension rights, or worsening of his position, or

(b)

as to the manner of a person's employment or the comparability of his duties;

;

“emoluments” means any of the following payments or other benefits made to or enjoyed by an officer in respect of services rendered by him as such:—

(a)

all salary, wages, fees and other payments of a similar nature for his own use,

(b)

all bonuses, allowances, commission, gratuities and special duty and over-time pay, which are of a recurring nature, whether seasonal or otherwise and whether obtaining by law or customary practice,

(c)

the money value of all travel privileges, free accommodation, and other allowances in kind, privileges or benefits, whether obtaining by law or customary practice,

but does not include payments for travelling, subsistence, accommodation, engagement of assistance or other expenses in the course of employment or over-time or other payments of a temporary nature; and

“net emoluments”, in relation to any employment, means the annual rate (modified where necessary in accordance with regulation 40) of the emoluments of that employment less such part of those emoluments as the officer was liable to contribute under a pension scheme, and in relation to any employment which has been lost, the emoluments of which have been diminished or in which the officer has suffered loss or diminution of pension rights or a worsening of his position, the expression means the annual rate of emoluments aforesaid immediately before the loss, diminution or worsening, as the case may be: Provided that where fees or other variable payments were paid to an officer as part of his emoluments during any period immediately preceding the loss, diminution or worsening the amount in respect of fees or other variable payments to be included in the annual rate of emoluments shall be the annual average of the fees or other payments paid to him during the period of 5 years immediately preceding the loss, diminution or worsening or such other period as the compensating authority may think reasonable in the circumstances;

“enactment” means any Act or instrument made under an Act;

“Executive” means a Passenger Transport Executive for the establishment of which provision has been made by an order under section 9(1) of the Act;

“existing operator” means an existing operator within the meaning of Schedule 6 to the Act;

“the Freight Corporation” means the National Freight Corporation established under section 1 of the Act;

“full-time basis”, in relation to the employment of a person on such a basis, means a basis on which that person is required to devote on the average not less than 30 hours per week to that employment during which he is not at liberty to undertake other work in consideration of a fee or remuneration ;

“the Holding Company” means the Transport Holding Company ;

“long-term compensation” means compensation payable in accordance with the provisions of Part IV of these regulations for loss of employment or loss or diminution of emoluments or worsening of a person's position;

“first material date” , in relation to any person who suffers attributable loss, means the appropriate date specified in column (2) of Schedule 1 to these regulations opposite to the relevant event which is specified in column (1) of that Schedule and to the happening of which that loss is properly attributable;

“second material date” , in relation to any person who suffers attributable loss, means the date on which he suffers that loss or on which the relevant event happens, whichever date is the earlier;

“minimum pensionable age” means, in relation to a pensionable officer, the earliest age at which, under his last relevant pension scheme, he could have become entitled to a pension, other than a pension payable in consequence of his redundancy or his incapacity to discharge efficiently the duties of his employment by reason of permanent ill-health or infirmity of mind or body;

“the Minister” means the Minister of Transport, and, in relation to a transfer such as is mentioned in section 135(1)(a) of the Act to or from the Scottish Group or a subsidiary of theirs, means the Minister and the Secretary of State acting jointly;

“nationalised transport body” means any of the following:—

(a)

a Board;

(b)

the Holding Company;

(c)

the Freight Corporation;

(d)

the Bus Company;

(e)

the Scottish Group;

“national service” means service which is relevant service within the meaning of the Reserve and Auxiliary Forces (Protection of Civil Interests) Act 1951, and includes service immediately following such service as aforesaid, being service in any of Her Majesty's naval, military or air forces pursuant to a voluntary engagement entered into with the consent of the person or body under whom an officer held his last relevant employment;

“normal retiring age” means, in the case of a pensionable officer to whom an age of compulsory retirement applied by virtue of his last relevant pension scheme or of the conditions of the employment in which he suffered the attributable loss, that age, and in any other case, the age of 65 years if the officer is a male, or 60 years if the officer is a female ;

“officer” in relation to the Commission or a nationalised transport body does not include a member of the Commission or of such a body, but subject as aforesaid, includes the holder of any employment whether by virtue of an agreement for the rendering by him of personal services, by appointment, or otherwise; and the expression “office” shall be construed accordingly;

“pensionable emoluments” , in relation to a person who has or had pension rights, means those emoluments which are required in accordance with the provisions of the pension scheme relating to those rights to be taken into account for the purpose of calculating the pension payable to or in respect of him under that scheme;

“pensionable officer” , in relation to a person who has suffered attributable loss, means an officer who immediately before such loss had pension rights under a pension scheme;

“pension scheme”, in relation to a pensionable officer, means any form of arrangement associated with his employment for the payment of pensions, whether subsisting by virtue of Act of Parliament, trust, contract or otherwise ; and “last relevant pension scheme”, in relation to a pensionable officer means a pension scheme under which that officer had or has pension rights which were the subject of a loss or diminution properly attributable to the happening of the relevant event;

“the Railways Board” means the British Railways Board;

“reckonable service” , in relation to a person, means any period of employment on a full-time basis in any relevant employment and includes any period of war service or national service undertaken on his ceasing to hold any such employment but does not include employment of which account has been taken, or is required to be taken, in calculating the amount of any pension to which he has become entitled;

“relevant employment” , in relation to a person who suffers attributable loss, means—

(a)

employment under the Crown, or

(b)

employment in the service of the Commission, a nationalised transport body, an Executive or a subsidiary of any of the foregoing bodies, or

(c)

employment in the service of a person whose business consists of, or includes, the provision of bus services, being employment in connection with such provision, or

(d)

employment such as is mentioned in regulation 3(4)(b) or (c) of the British Transport Reorganisation (Compensation to Employees) Regulations 1962(1), or

(e)

employment preceding any of the foregoing employments, being employment which is reckonable for the purposes of his last relevant pension scheme,

but, except as provided in regulations 7(1)(c), 13(1)(c) and 19(2)(c), does not include service in the armed forces of the Crown;

“relevant event”, in relation to a person who suffers attributable loss, means whichever of the events specified in column (1) of Schedule 1 to these regulations is the event to the happening of which that loss is properly attributable;

“resettlement compensation” means compensation payable in accordance with Part III of these regulations for loss of employment;

“retirement compensation” means compensation payable in accordance with the provisions of regulation 21, 22, 23 or 24;

“the Scottish Group” means the Scottish Transport Group established under section 24 of the Act;

“subsidiary”, in relation to the Commission or a nationalised transport body, has the same meaning as in the Transport Act 1962, and in this connection no account shall be taken of the provisions of section 51(5) of the Act;

“tribunal” means a tribunal established under section 12 of the Industrial Training Act 1964;

“war service” means war service within the meaning of the Local Government Staffs (War Service) Act 1939, the Teachers Superannuation (War Service) Act 1939 (or, in Scotland, the Education (Scotland) (War Service Superannuation) Act 1939), the Police and Firemen (War Service) Act 1939 or employment for war purposes within the meaning of the Superannuation Schemes (War Service) Act 1940 and includes any period of service in the First World War in the armed forces of the Crown or in the forces of the Allied or Associated Powers if such service immediately followed a period of relevant employment and was undertaken either compulsorily or with the permission of the employer in that employment.

(2) (a) Where under any provision of these regulations an annual value is to be assigned to a capital sum or a capital value to an annual amount, the annual or capital value shall be ascertained in accordance with the tables set out in Schedule 2 to these regulations in so far as they provide for the particular case.

(b) For the purpose of determining the application of the said tables the headings and the note to each table shall be treated as a part of the table.

(c) Where the said tables do not provide for a case in which an annual value is to be assigned to a capital sum or a capital value to an annual amount, the annual or capital value shall be such as may be agreed between the compensating authority and the person to whom the capital sum or annual amount is payable.

(3) Unless the context otherwise requires, references in these regulations to the provisions of any enactment shall be construed as references to those provisions as amended, re-enacted or modified by or under any subsequent enactment.

(4) References in these regulations to a numbered regulation shall, unless the reference is to a regulation of specified regulations, be construed as references to the regulation bearing that number in these regulations.

(5) References in any of these regulations to a numbered paragraph shall, unless the reference is to a paragraph of a specified regulation, be construed as references to the paragraph bearing that number in the first mentioned regulation.

(6) The Interpretation Act 1889 shall apply for the interpretation of these regulations as it applies for the interpretation of an Act of Parliament.

(1)

(1962 III, p. 4051).