The National Health Service Pension Scheme (Amendment) Regulations 2008

Amendment of regulation B2 E+W

3.  For regulation B2 (restrictions on membership) substitute—

“Restrictions on membership

B2.— (1) A person may not join the scheme if—

(a) that person is—

(i) under the age of 16; or

(ii) over the age of 75; or

(iii) over the age of 70 on or before 31st March 2008;

(b) that person is a special class officer over the age of 65;

(c) that person is eligible to be an active member of a superannuation scheme established under section 1 or 9 of the Superannuation Act 1972 in respect of service in that scheme and is such a member;

(d) that person holds an honorary appointment and does not at the same time hold any other employment which entitles that person to join the scheme;

(e) that person is not a practitioner and is employed by a GDS or PDS contractor;

(f) that person, on or after 1st April 2008, enters NHS employment for the first time and has not previously been a member of the scheme;

(g) that person, on or after 1st April 2008, returns to NHS employment and was entitled to a refund of contributions under regulation L2 when that person last left employment, unless paragraph (4), but not paragraph (5), of regulation L4 (early leavers returning to pensionable employment) applies to that person;

(h) that person is a person who—

(i) leaves pensionable employment on, or after, 1st April 2008; and

(ii) before returning to NHS employment, exercises the member’s right to transfer out all of that person’s benefits in the scheme in accordance with regulation M1 or M2;

(i) that person is a person who has been a member of the National Health Service Pension Scheme governed by the National Health Service Pension Regulations 2008(1).

(2) In paragraph (1)—

(a) “NHS Pension Scheme 2008” includes a corresponding health service scheme;

(b) “pensionable employment” includes employment that qualified the member for a benefit under a health service scheme.

(3) The Secretary of State may permit a person who would otherwise not be permitted to join the scheme in accordance with sub-paragraphs (1)(f) to (h) to do so if—

(a) that person’s employment is transferred to an employing authority by virtue of a transfer of undertakings or by virtue of arrangements equivalent to a transfer of undertakings (whether or not the transferring employer is in the public sector provided that person’s employment was originally transferred out of the public sector);

(b) the employment from which the member is transferred—

(i) qualified the member for benefits under an occupational pension scheme, and

(ii) the rules of that scheme (in the opinion of the Secretary of State) entitle the member to receive benefits on retirement upon, or prior to, attaining the age of 60 years.

(4) The reference in paragraph (3)(a) to arrangements equivalent to a transfer of undertakings is to arrangements—

(a) which the Secretary of State considers to be equivalent to the transfer of an undertaking, and

(b) under which the parties to the arrangements have agreed that the rights of the persons whose employments are being transferred should as far as practicable be treated in the same way as they would have been under a transfer of an undertaking.

(5) For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b)(ii) a person is not to be treated as being entitled under the rules of a pension scheme to receive benefits upon, or prior to, attaining the age of 60 years, where such entitlement arises by virtue of any scheme rule making special provision—

(a) as to early retirement on the grounds of ill health, redundancy or otherwise, or

(b) for benefits to be reduced for early payment.

(6) Before permitting a person referred to in paragraph (3) to join the scheme the Secretary of State shall take advice from the Scheme Actuary.”.

Commencement Information

I1 Reg. 3 in force at 1.4.2008, see reg. 1(2)

(1)

S.I. 2008/653.