The Police Pensions (Scotland) Regulations 2007

PART 8 TRANSFER VALUES, PAYMENT, ETC

Interpretation

Interpretation

76.  In this Part–

(a) “police authority” in relation to a regular police officer means the police authority for that officer’s force or, in the case of a former regular police officer, for the force of which the officer was a member immediately before that officer retired or otherwise ceased to serve; and

(b) “the relevant police authority”, in relation to a pension credit member, means–

(i) the police authority for the force in which, at the time when the pension sharing order takes effect, the pension debit member from whose rights the pension credit member’s pension credit is derived is serving; or

(ii) if such pension debit member is not then serving as a regular police officer, the police authority for the force in which the officer last served as such.

Certificates of pensionable service on transfer between forces or rejoining the police service

Certificates of pensionable service

77.—(1) This regulation applies where a regular police officer–

(a) has transferred from one force to another; or

(b) having previously ceased to serve as such in one police force, subsequently becomes a regular police officer in another; and

(c) by reason of previous service in a police force is entitled to reckon pensionable service under regulation 12(1)(a), (b) (c) or (d), 13 or 15.

(2) Where this regulation applies, the former police authority shall furnish the current authority with a certificate stating–

(a) the amount of the pensionable service which the regular police officer to whom this regulation applies is entitled to reckon by reason of previous service in a police force in accordance with regulations 10 to 15;

(b) whether or not that police officer has, at the time of leaving service in the force maintained by the former police authority, made an election under regulation 9; and

(c) where that officer is a pension debit member under Part 6, the appropriate percentage by which that officer’s future benefits are to be reduced under regulation 36.

(3) On the acceptance of a certificate under paragraph (2) by the current authority, any entitlement of a regular police officer to whom this regulation applies to an award from the former police authority shall cease to have effect.

(4) The former police authority shall furnish a regular police officer to whom this regulation applies with a copy of the certificate furnished under paragraph (2) together with a description of the effect of paragraph (3).

(5) In this regulation (but subject to regulation 96(1))–

“the former police authority” means the police authority of the force first mentioned in paragraph (1)(a) or (b), as the case may be; and

“the current authority” means the police authority of the force of which the regular police officer is a member.

Transfer values payable on leaving the police service or ceasing to make pension contributions

Transfer values payable on leaving the police service or ceasing to make pension contributions

78.—(1) Subject to paragraph (8), this regulation applies to a regular police officer who, before that officer attains the age of 64 years–

(a) ceases to serve as a regular police officer; or

(b) makes or has made an election under regulation 9,

and who, in either case, satisfies the conditions specified in paragraph (2).

(2) The conditions mentioned in paragraph (1) are–

(a) that the officer subsequently becomes subject to new pension arrangements which are contained within–

(i) a public service pension scheme within the meaning of section 1(1) of the 1993 Act(1);

(ii) any other pension scheme which is registered under section 153 of the Finance Act 2004(2); or

(iii) a qualifying recognised overseas pension scheme within the meaning of section 169 of the Finance Act 2004;

(b) that the officer’s pensionable service satisfies the 3 month condition within the meaning of section 101AA(2) of the 1993 Act(3);

(c) that the officer is not entitled to a pension under Part 4 or, if the officer is so entitled, it is not yet payable;

(d) that the officer has not received any award by way of repayment of the officer’s aggregate pension contributions; and

(e) that the officer has, on or before the date on which that officer attains the age of 64 years, or within such longer period as the police authority may allow in the circumstances of the particular case, given written notice to the police authority of the officer’s desire that this regulation should apply in the officer’s case.

(3) A regular police officer who has given notice in accordance with paragraph (2)(e) may, without prejudice to the giving of another such notice, withdraw that notice by giving written notice to that effect to the police authority under this paragraph:

Provided that notice under this paragraph shall be of no effect if it is given at a time when the police authority have already entered into an agreement with a third party to pay a transfer value under paragraph (4) in respect of that officer.

(4) Subject to paragraph (8), where this regulation applies the police authority shall, within 12 months of receipt of notice given in accordance with paragraph (2)(e) or, if earlier, by the date on which the regular police officer concerned attains the age of 65 years, pay a transfer value calculated, subject to paragraph (5) in accordance with tables and guidance issued for the purpose by the Scheme actuary to the authority or person empowered to receive such payments for the purposes of the new pension arrangements to which the regular police officer becomes subject:

Provided that if proceedings before a court have been commenced against the regular police officer concerned within 12 months of the date on which contributions under regulation 8 ceased to be payable in respect of that officer and it appears to the police authority that the proceedings may lead to the forfeiture of any pension, entitlement to which arises as a result of the payment of such contributions, the period within which payment under this paragraph is to be made shall be–

(a) that specified in the foregoing provisions of this paragraph; or

(b) 3 months from the conclusion of those proceedings (including any proceedings on appeal),

whichever ends later.

(5) In the case of a transfer value paid under the public sector transfer arrangements, paragraph (4) shall have effect as if, for the words from “subject to paragraph (5)” to “actuary” there were substituted the words “in accordance with the rules of the public sector transfer arrangements”; and for these purposes, “the public sector transfer arrangements” has the same meaning as that given in regulation 15(4).

(6) In the case of a regular police officer who has received such an award as is mentioned in paragraph (2)(d) but has, within 6 months of becoming subject to new pension arrangements, or within such longer period as the police authority may allow in the circumstances of that officer’s case, paid to that authority an amount equal to that of the award (plus interest, where payable in accordance with paragraph (7)), paragraph (2) shall have effect as if sub-paragraph (d) were omitted:

Provided that, in the case of a regular police officer who is becoming subject to new pension arrangements such as are specified in paragraph (2)(a)(i), this paragraph shall have effect as if for “6 months” there were substituted “12 months”.

(7) For the purposes of paragraph (6)–

(a) interest shall be payable where payment is made under that paragraph more than a year after receipt of the award as mentioned in paragraph (2)(d); and

(b) any such interest shall be calculated at the rate of 5 per cent per year, compounded with yearly rests.

(8) Where a pension debit exists under Part 6, the amount of any transfer value payable under this regulation shall be decreased by the actuarial value of that debit.

Prohibition on accepting or paying transfer values for pension credit rights

79.  A transfer value may not be accepted or paid in respect of any pension credit rights under Part 6.

Mis-sold pensions

Mis-sold pensions

80.—(1) This regulation applies to a regular police officer who–

(a) opted or transferred out; and

(b) has suffered loss as a result of a contravention which is actionable under section 62 of the Financial Services Act 1986(4) or section 150 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000(5) (actions for damages in respect of contravention of rules etc made under the Act).

(2) A regular police officer to whom this regulation applies may give notice in writing to the police authority that the officer wishes the authority to accept payment of a transfer value in order to create or restore pensionable service, and such notice shall be treated as cancelling, with effect from the date on which an instalment of pay next falls due to that officer, any election that is in force under regulation 9 in respect of that police officer.

(3) Where a regular police officer has given notice under paragraph (2), but before the payment has been accepted and pensionable service created or restored that officer either–

(a) dies while serving as a member of a police force; or

(b) becomes entitled to an award under these Regulations,

paragraph (4) shall continue to apply in that officer’s case.

(4) Where a transfer value in relation to a regular police officer who has given notice under paragraph (2) is paid to a police authority before the expiry of the period of 12 months beginning with the date on which the police officer gives such notice, or such longer period as the police authority may allow, the police authority–

(a) shall, if satisfied that the transfer value has been calculated in a manner consistent with the methods adopted and assumptions made by them in determining the restitution payment, accept the payment and treat the relevant period as pensionable service reckonable by the officer concerned; and

(b) may, if not so satisfied, but if satisfied that the transfer value represents, by reference to those methods and assumptions, a length of service not exceeding the relevant period, accept the payment and treat that length of service as pensionable service reckonable by the officer concerned,

and the police officer shall be treated for the purpose of calculating any award under these Regulations as having made pension contributions throughout the period of pensionable service credited under this paragraph.

(5) Where a regular police officer is credited under paragraph (4) with a period of pensionable service that is shorter than the relevant period, the period of service credited shall be treated for the purpose of any award under these Regulations as being a continuous period with the same concluding date as the relevant period.

(6) Where a regular police officer who is being credited under paragraph (4) with a period of pensionable service has previously been credited with an additional period of pensionable service calculated in accordance with regulation 15(2) or regulation 78(4) in respect of the relevant period, the police authority may adjust the transfer value which they accept under this regulation to ensure that no part of the additional period of pensionable service which was previously credited is included in the period of pensionable service credited under paragraph (4).

(7) In this regulation–

“the assumed calculation date” means the date on which it is assumed, for the purpose of calculating a restitution payment, that a transfer value will be paid to the police authority;

“the material date” means the date on which the police authority is asked to provide the calculation of the restitution payment;

“personal pension scheme” and “public service pension scheme” have the meanings given by section 1(1) of the 1993 Act;

“the relevant period”, in relation to a regular police officer, means the total of any periods of opted out and transferred out service;

“restitution payment”, in relation to a regular police officer, means an amount equal to the sum of–

(a)

the capitalised value at the material date, determined by the police authority in accordance with methods and assumptions notified to them by the Scheme actuary for cash equivalent transfer values from occupational pension schemes (other than public service pension schemes), which would produce a service credit equal to that officer’s total period of opted out service, including the capitalised value of any rights under the Pensions (Increase) Acts(6); and

(b)

the greater of–

(i)

any transfer value paid to a personal pension scheme in respect of that police officer’s transferred out service by a police authority under regulation 78(4), increased by interest calculated at a rate approved by the Scheme actuary over the period from the date of payment of that transfer value to the assumed calculation date; and

(ii)

the cash equivalent transfer value which would be payable by the police authority in respect of that transferred out service if the police authority were to pay a cash equivalent transfer value in respect of that service determined in accordance with methods and assumptions, notified to them by the Scheme actuary, applicable immediately after the assumed calculation date.

(8) For the purposes of this regulation, a regular police officer shall be taken–

(a) to have opted out if, for any period during which that officer is a member of a police force, that officer does not make contributions (including any additional or further contributions which that officer had previously elected to make) in respect of police pension rights but instead makes contributions to a personal pension scheme; and

(b) to have transferred out if a transfer value is paid in respect of that officer by a police authority to a personal pension scheme,

and “opted out service” and “transferred out service” are to be construed accordingly.

Payment of awards

Authorities responsible for payment of awards

81.—(1) An award which is payable to or in respect of a person by reason of that officer having served as a regular police officer shall be payable by the police authority.

(2) An award which is payable to or in respect of a pension credit member under Part 6, and any sum paid in commutation of such an award, is payable by the relevant police authority.

Funds out of which and into which payments are to be made

82.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), all payments for the purposes of these Regulations made by or to a police authority shall be paid out of or into the police fund.

(2) There shall be paid out of monies provided by Parliament or, as the case may be, into the Scottish Consolidated Fund all payments for the purposes of these Regulations made by or to the Scottish Ministers by reason that the Scottish Ministers are treated as the police authority in relation to an inspector or assistant inspector of constabulary or a police officer engaged on relevant service.

Payment and duration of awards

83.—(1) Subject to the provisions of these Regulations, in particular of–

(a) regulation 32(4);

(b) regulation 33;

(c) regulation 43; and

(d) regulations 51 to 55,

the pension of a regular police officer shall be payable in respect of each month as from the date of that officer’s retirement.

(2) Subject to the provisions of these Regulations, a survivor’s pension shall be payable in respect of each month as from the death of the police officer in respect of whom the award is payable or, in the case of a posthumous child such as is mentioned in regulation 40(1)(b)(i), as from the birth of the child, except where the police officer in respect of whom the award is payable was in receipt of a pension and dies during a period in respect of which the officer has already received that officer’s pension, in which case the survivor’s pension shall not be payable before the end of that period.

(3) Subject to the provisions of these Regulations, in particular of–

(a) regulation 42(6)(b) and (c);

(b) regulation 43; and

(c) regulations 51 to 55,

a pension shall be payable for life and shall be discharged by payments in advance at such reasonable intervals as the police authority may, in their discretion, determine, except that payment on account of a pension may be delayed, in whole or in part, pending the determination of any question as to the liability of the police authority in respect of the pension, including any question as to the continuance of that liability.

(4) Where a person dies after receiving a sum paid in advance on account of a pension, neither the said sum nor any part thereof shall be recoverable although referable to a period after the person’s death.

(5) Subject to the provisions of these Regulations, a gratuity or award by way of repayment of aggregate pension contributions shall become payable as soon as the entitlement to it arises and shall be paid forthwith in 1 sum, and a lump sum payable upon the retirement of a regular police officer shall be paid within 3 months from the date of retirement, except that–

(a) any such payment may be delayed, in whole or in part, pending the determination of any question as to the liability of the police authority to pay it; and

(b) where the police authority are satisfied that it would be for the advantage of the beneficiary to pay a gratuity in instalments, they may pay it in instalments of such reasonable amounts and over such reasonable period as they think fit.

Payment of awards otherwise than to beneficiary and application of payments

84.—(1) This regulation applies to the payment of any award to or in respect of a regular police officer or a pension credit member (whether a pension, gratuity or other award) and any reference in this regulation to the beneficiary is a reference to the person to whom, this regulation apart, the award is payable.

(2) Subject to the provisions of these Regulations, and in particular the following provisions of this regulation, an award shall be payable only to the beneficiary.

(3) Where the beneficiary is a child under the age of 18, the police authority may, if they think fit, in lieu of paying any sum on account of an award to that child, pay it to such other person as they may determine; and a person who receives any sum in pursuance of this paragraph shall, subject to and in accordance with any directions of the police authority, apply that sum for the benefit of that child under the age of 18.

(4) On the death of the beneficiary to whom a sum is due on account of an award which does not exceed £30,000 or such higher amount as may from time to time be prescribed for the purposes of section 6 of the Administration of Estates (Small Payments) Act 1965(7) or section 1(3) of the Confirmation to Small Estates (Scotland) Act 1979(8), the police authority may, without probate, confirmation or any other formality or proof of title, pay the said sum to the persons appearing to the authority to be beneficially entitled to the personal estate of the deceased or, as the authority think fit, pay the said sum to one or more of those persons or distribute it among all or any of those persons in such proportions as the authority may determine.

(5) Where it appears to the police authority that a beneficiary is by reason of mental disorder or otherwise incapable of managing that beneficiary’s affairs, in lieu of paying any sum on account of an award to that beneficiary–

(a) they may, in their discretion, pay it in whole or in part to a person having the care of the beneficiary or such other person as they may determine; and

(b) in so far as they do not so discharge their liability in respect of that sum, the authority shall apply it in such manner as they think fit for the benefit of the beneficiary or their dependants;

and a person who receives any sum in pursuance of sub-paragraph (a) shall, subject to and in accordance with any directions of the police authority, apply it for the benefit of the beneficiary or that beneficiary’s dependants.

(6) Where, as a result of any fraud, theft or negligence on the part of a regular police officer in connection with that officer’s service as such, a loss has occurred to the fund out of which an award is payable to that officer, in lieu of paying the whole or any part of any sum on account of the award to that beneficiary, the police authority may, if they think fit but subject to paragraph (7), apply it in making good the loss by retaining it in that fund:

Provided that the aggregate amount retained in pursuance of this paragraph shall not exceed whichever is the lesser of the following amounts, namely–

(a) the amount which is the actuarial value, at the time of the first retention, of the sums then or prospectively due to the regular police officer on account of the award; and

(b) the amount of the said loss,

and, in the event of any dispute as to the amount of that loss, the power conferred by this paragraph shall not be exercisable save to the extent of any sum adjudged due to the police authority in respect of the loss by an order of a competent court.

(7) Where the police authority exercise the power conferred by paragraph (6) they shall furnish the regular police officer concerned with a certificate showing the amount retained and the effect on the award; and, where the regular police officer is entitled to reckon pensionable service otherwise than by reason of service as a member of a police force, only the following proportion of any sum due on account of the award may be so retained and applied, that is to say, the proportion which that officer’s pensionable service reckonable by reason of service as a member of a police force bears to that officer’s total pensionable service.

(8) A police authority shall obtain a good discharge by paying or applying any sum in the manner provided by this regulation.

Payment on behalf of officers of lifetime allowance charge

85.—(1) A regular police officer may request the police authority to pay on that officer’s behalf any amount that is payable by way of the lifetime allowance charge under section 214 of the Finance Act 2004(9) (lifetime allowance charge) when–

(a) an event that is a benefit crystallisation event listed in the table in section 216(1) of that Act (benefit crystallisation events and amounts crystallised) occurs in relation to that officer; and

(b) the officer and the police authority are jointly and severally liable in relation to that event.

(2) Such a request may only be made by notice in writing given before the event occurs.

(3) The police authority may comply with such a request only if the officer pays the police authority the amount in question on or before the date on which the event occurs.

Reduction of benefits where lifetime allowance charge payable

86.—(1) This regulation applies if–

(a) an event that is a benefit crystallisation event listed in the table in section 216(1) of the Finance Act 2004 occurs in relation to a regular police officer;

(b) the officer and police authority are jointly and severally liable in relation to that event; and

(c) no request has been duly made under regulation 85 in relation to the event or, if such a request has been made, the authority is prevented from complying with it by paragraph (3) of that regulation.

(2) Where this regulation applies–

(a) the police authority shall pay any of the tax payable on the event;

(b) the benefits payable to or in respect of the officer, or the transfer payment in the case of event 8 in the table in section 216(1) of the Finance Act 2004, shall be reduced to reflect fully the amount of tax payable; and

(c) the amount of the reduction shall be determined in accordance with guidance provided by the Scheme actuary and, in the case of any reduction to pension benefits, consistent with normal actuarial practice, as determined by the Scheme actuary.

(1)

1993 c. 48; subsection (1) of section 1 was so numbered by the Pensions Act 2004 (c. 35), section 293(1) and (2) and the definition of “public service pension scheme” was amended by S.I. 1999/1820, article 4, Schedule 2, Part 1, paragraph 113(a) and (b).

(2)

2004 c. 12.

(3)

Section 101AA was inserted by section 264 of the Pensions Act 2004.

(4)

1986 c. 60.

(5)

2000 c. 8; amended by S.I. 2005/381.

(6)

1971 c. 56 and 1974 c. 9.

(7)

1965 c. 32.

(8)

1979 c. 22.

(9)

2004 c. 12.