The Health and Social Care (Pension Scheme) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008

Restrictions on eligibility: general N.I.

154.— [F1 (A1) A person is not eligible to be an active member of this Section of the Scheme in respect of practitioner service after 31st March 2022.

(A2) Paragraphs (1) to (9) apply in respect of practitioner service before 1st April 2022.]

[F2 (A3) Nothing in paragraphs (1A) and (1C) to (1L) of this regulation prevents a member’s remediable service within the meaning of section 1 of the Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Act 2022 being treated as pensionable service under this Section of the Scheme in accordance with section 2 of that Act (remediable service treated as pensionable under Chapter 1 legacy schemes).]

[F3 (1) A person is not eligible to be an active member of this Section of the Scheme if the person—

(a) became a pensioner member of the 1995 Section or a corresponding 1995 scheme on, or before, 1st April 2008 (except if paragraph (1)(b)(i) of regulation 153A applies to that person); or

(b) became a pensioner member of the 1995 Section or a corresponding 1995 scheme on, or after, that date (except if paragraph (1)(b)(i) or (ii) of regulation 153A applies to that person [F4 or that person became an active member of this Section of the Scheme before reaching normal benefit age for the purposes of the 1995 Section]); or

(c) is a deferred member of the 1995 Section or a corresponding 1995 scheme, but is not a deferred member—

(i) to whom regulation 153(5)(e), (f), (g) or (h) applies, and

(ii) in respect of whom permission of the Department to rejoin the 1995 Section has not been granted pursuant to regulation 7(3) of that Section.]

[F5 (1A) A person who was born on, or after, 1st September 1960 is not eligible to be an active member of this Section of the Scheme in respect of practitioner service on, or after, 1st April 2015.

(1B) A person is not eligible to be an active member of this Section of the Scheme if that person has had a break in service ending on or after 2nd April 2012, and any of the following apply—

(a) that break in service is for any one period of five years or more;

(b) that person receives a repayment of contributions under regulation 175 in respect of their service before that break (see regulation 153(3)(a));

(c) that person becomes entitled to a repayment of contributions under regulation 175 by virtue of paragraph (2)(a) to (c) of that regulation in respect of their service before that break; or

(d) that person’s rights under this Section of the Scheme in respect of their service before that break have been extinguished under regulation 226 because a transfer value payment is made in respect of them.

(1C) A person who on 1st April 2012 has attained the age of 55 may not contribute or accrue further pensionable service under this Section of the Scheme unless that person either—

(a) is, on 1st April 2015, an active member of this Section of the Scheme in accordance with regulation 153, or

(b) returns to HSC employment on or after 2nd April 2015 in circumstances where paragraph (1B)(a) does not apply.

(1D) Paragraph (1E) applies to a person—

(a) who, on 1st April 2012, has attained the age of 51 years and 7 months but has not attained the age of 55, and

(b) whose eligibility cessation date has not been reached (see paragraph (1F)).

(1E) A person referred to in paragraph (1D) may not contribute or accrue further pensionable service under this Section of the Scheme unless that person either—

(a) is, on 1st April 2015, an active member of this Section of the Scheme in accordance with regulation 153, or

(b) returns to HSC employment on or after 2nd April 2015 in circumstances where paragraph (1B)(a) does not apply.

(1F) For the purposes of paragraph (1D), a person’s eligibility cessation date is to be determined according to the formula—

where—

• A is 1st April 2022

• T is the number of months (rounded up to the nearest whole month) by which the person’s age on 1st April 2012 is less than 55.

(1G) For the purposes of paragraphs (1C)(b) and (1E)(b), any break in service where the member was in pensionable service in an existing scheme (within the meaning of Schedule 5 to the 2014 Act) is to be disregarded.

(1H) Paragraph (1I) applies to a person who in the opinion of the Department—

(a) was previously an active member of a corresponding 2008 scheme;

(b) the regulations governing that corresponding scheme include provisions pursuant to subsection (5) of section 18 of the 2014 Act that provide for exceptions to subsection (1) of that section, and

(c) pursuant to those provisions, the member would have been eligible to re-join that corresponding scheme if the member had returned to HSC employment for the purposes of that scheme on the day the member commenced HSC employment within the meaning of these Regulations.

(1I) The Department may permit a person referred to in paragraph (1H) to join this Section of the Scheme and, for the purposes of paragraphs (1C) to (1G), the member’s previous pensionable employment under the corresponding scheme referred to in paragraph (1H) will be treated as is it were previous pensionable employment under this Section of the Scheme.

(1J) Paragraph (1K) applies to a person who, in the opinion of the Department—

(a) was previously an active member in respect of service in an existing scheme (within the meaning of Schedule 5 to the 2014 Act),

(b) is not receiving a pension in respect of that service on the relevant day,

(c) the regulations of that existing scheme include provisions pursuant to subsection (5) of section 18 of the 2014 Act that provide for exceptions to subsection (1) of that section,

(d) pursuant to those provisions, the person would have been eligible to be an active member of the existing scheme if the member had returned to employment for the purposes of that scheme on the relevant day, and

(e) the member would, if the member’s previous service in the existing scheme had been previous service under this Section of the Scheme, have been eligible for active membership of this Section of the Scheme on the relevant day pursuant to paragraphs (1A) to (1G).

(1K) The Department may permit a person referred to in paragraph (1J) to join this Section of the Scheme and, for the purposes of paragraphs (1C) to (1G), the member’s previous service as an active member under the existing scheme referred to in paragraph (1J) will be treated as if it were previous service as an active member of this Section of the Scheme.

(1L) For the purposes of paragraphs (1J) and (1K) “the relevant day” is the day the member commences HSC employment for the purposes of these Regulations.

(1M) A person referred to in paragraph (1C), (1E), (1I) or (1K) may elect, using a form provided by the Department, not to make contributions or accrue further service under this Section of Scheme in accordance with whichever of those paragraphs apply, but instead (where eligible) to become an active member of the 2015 Scheme.

(1N) An election—

(a) is irrevocable,

(b) must be given to the Department before the date specified by the Department in the election form,

(c) is to be treated as having been given on the date the election form is received by the Department.

(1O) The date referred to in sub-paragraph (1N)(b) must be a date that is at least three months later than the date on which the Department provided the member with an election form.

(1P) An election shall be effective from the first day of the member’s pensionable employment in the 2008 Section falling on, or after, 1st April 2015, and from that date—

(a) that member is to be treated as if that member had been an active member of the 2015 Scheme; and

(b) contributions made in respect of the member in the 2008 Section shall be treated as if they had been contributions made in respect of that member in the 2015 Scheme.

(1Q) The Department may allow a member to exercise an election after the date specified under sub-paragraph (1N)(b) where the Department considers that the member has not had a reasonable opportunity to consider whether to exercise an election before that date.]

(2) A person is not eligible to be an active member of [F6 this Section of] the Scheme in respect of service in an employment if the person is an active member of a superannuation scheme established under Article 3 or 11 of the Superannuation (Northern Ireland) Order 1972 in respect of service in that employment.

(3) A person who holds an honorary appointment and does not at the same time hold any other employment which entitles him to be a member of [F6 this Section of] the Scheme is not eligible to be an active member of [F6 this Section of] the Scheme.

(4) A person is not eligible to be an active member of [F6 this Section of] the Scheme in any further employment if the person—

(a) becomes entitled to a tier 2 pension under regulation 182, and

(b) opts to exchange that pension for a lump sum in accordance with regulation 186.

(5) A person who is entitled to the immediate payment of a pension under [F6 this Section of] the Scheme under a regulation that requires the person not to be in HSC employment may only be an active member in accordance with—

(a) regulation 180,

(b) regulation 239 (effect of re-employment on tier 2 ill-health pensions),or

(c) Chapter 7.

[F7 (6) A person is not eligible to be an active member of [F6 this Section of] the Scheme in any future employment if the person—

(a) ceases to be entitled to a tier 1 ill-health pension under regulation 182; and

(b) becomes entitled to a tier 2 ill-health pension under that regulation on the date the Department makes a determination under regulation 183(3).

• This is subject to paragraph (7).

(7) A person to whom paragraph (6) applies is eligible to be an active member of [F6 this Section of] the Scheme in any further employment after the first anniversary of that person’s first day of such employment following the date of the Department’s determination under regulation 183.]

[F8 (8) A person is not eligible to be an active member of this Section of the Scheme if that person is a person, other than a registered dentist, who is employed as a dental pilot scheme employee otherwise than by a HSC Trust, and who either—

(a) was, immediately prior to the commencement of such employment, a HSC dental employee who was not eligible to join the scheme; or

(b) has not previously been in employment as a HSC dental employee.

(9) A person is not eligible to be an active member of this Section of the Scheme if that person is a provider of personal dental services under a pilot scheme to whom these Regulations did not apply immediately prior to the commencement of the pilot scheme, other than a registered dentist.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Pt. 3 Ch. 2 reg. 154(A1)(A2) inserted (1.4.2022) by The Health and Social Care Pension Schemes (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022 (S.R. 2022/156), regs. 1(2), 3(3)

F2 Reg. 154(A3) inserted (1.10.2023) by The Health and Social Care Pension Schemes (Remediable Service) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2023 (S.R. 2023/132), reg. 1, Sch. para. 2(3)

F3 Reg. 154(1) substituted (with effect in accordance with reg. 1(2) of the amending Rule) by The Health and Personal Social Services (Superannuation Scheme, Injury Benefits and Additional Voluntary Contributions), Health and Social Care (Pension Scheme) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010 (S.R. 2010/286), Pt. 3 reg. 39, reg. 1(2)

F4 Words in reg. 154(1)(b) inserted (with effect in accordance with of the amending Rule) by The Health and Personal Social Services (Superannuation Scheme, Additional Voluntary Contributions and Injury Benefits), Health and Social Care (Pension Scheme) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015 (S.R. 2015/121), regs. 1(6), 34

F5 Reg. 154(1A)-(1Q) inserted (1.4.2015) by The Health and Social Care Pension Scheme (Transitional and Consequential Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015 (S.R. 2015/122), reg. 1, Sch. 2 para. 17(2)

F6 Words in reg. 154(1)-(7) inserted (with effect in accordance with reg. 1(2) of the amending Rule) by The Health and Personal Social Services (Superannuation Scheme, Compensation for Premature Retirement and Additional Voluntary Contributions), and Health and Social Care (Pension Scheme) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010 (S.R. 2010/22), reg. 1(2), Sch. 2 Pt. 1

F7 Reg. 154(6)(7) added (with effect in accordance with reg. 1(2) of the amending Rule) by The Health and Personal Social Services (Superannuation Scheme and Injury Benefits) and Health and Social Care (Pension Scheme) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009 (S.R. 2009/188), regs. 1(2), 51

F8 Reg. 154(8)(9) added (29.3.2013) by The Health and Personal Social Services (Superannuation Scheme and Injury Benefits) and Health and Social Care (Pension Scheme) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2013 (S.R. 2013/40), regs. 1(2), 18