Transport Act 1980

[F1 52A Power to make payments by way of final discharge of liabilities under s.52(1). U.K.

(1) If the Minister is desirous of making to the persons administering a B.R. pension scheme one or more payments by way of final discharge of his liability to make payments to them under section 52(1) in relation to that scheme, to the extent that that liability relates to so much of the relevant pension obligations as are owed in respect of—

(a) all pension rights under the scheme,

(b) pension rights of some particular class or description under the scheme, or

(c) pension rights of persons of some particular class or description under the scheme,

he may give to the persons administering the scheme a notice identifying the pension rights in question and specifying in relation to those pension rights the matters set out in subsection (2), as determined in accordance with the following provisions of this section.

(2) The matters mentioned in subsection (1) are—

(a) the capital value of the attributable unfunded obligations in question, as at the beginning of the next financial year;

(b) the amount or amounts, or the method of determining the amount or amounts, of the payment or payments to be made under this section by way of final discharge of the Minister’s liability to make payments under section 52(1), so far as relating to the pension rights identified in the notice under subsection (1); and

(c) the date or dates on which that payment or those payments are to be made.

(3) In making any determination for the purposes of paragraph (b) of subsection (2), the amount or, as the case may be, the aggregate of the amounts mentioned in that paragraph shall be such as to include—

(a) a sum equal to the capital value determined under paragraph (a) of that subsection; and

(b) interest, payable at such rate as may be determined by the Minister, on so much (if any) of that sum as may from time to time be outstanding after the beginning of the financial year mentioned in the said paragraph (a).

(4) For the purposes of this section, the capital value mentioned in paragraph (a) of subsection (2) shall either—

(a) be determined by the Minister, or

(b) if the Minister so requires in the particular case, be determined by the actuary to the scheme in question and approved by the Minister,

and it shall be for the Minister to determine the matters mentioned in paragraphs (b) and (c) of that subsection.

(5) Notice under subsection (1) above shall only be given after consultation—

(a) with the persons administering the scheme in question; and

(b) with the actuary to that scheme, except in a case where the capital value mentioned in subsection (2)(a) is determined by that actuary pursuant to subsection (4)(b);

and any such notice must be given not less than one month before the beginning of the financial year mentioned in subsection (2)(a).

(6) The giving of a notice under subsection (1) shall—

(a) terminate the liability of the Minister to make payments under section 52(1), so far as relating to the pension rights identified in the notice, for financial years beginning after the giving of the notice; and

(b) impose upon the Minister a duty—

(i) to make to the persons administering the scheme in question the payment or payments mentioned in subsection (2)(b); and

(ii) to do so at the time or times specified in pursuance of subsection (2)(c).

(7) Where notice has been given under subsection (1), the Minister may—

(a) at any time before the expiration of the period of eleven months beginning with the financial year mentioned in subsection (2)(a) as it applies in relation to that notice, and

(b) after consultation with the persons administering the scheme in question and the actuary to the scheme,

amend that notice by giving notice of the amendment to the persons administering the scheme.

(8) If notice is given under subsection (7) of an amendment affecting the amount of a payment which has been made pursuant to this section, the Minister may also give notice to the persons administering the scheme in question requiring them—

(a) to repay to him so much of the payment made as exceeds the amended amount; and

(b) to pay interest to him, at such rate as he may determine, on the amount to be repaid, as from the date on which the payment in question was made by him;

and where notice is given under paragraph (a) or (b), the amount required to be repaid or, as the case may be, the amount of interest required to be paid from time to time, shall be treated as a debt due from those persons to the Minister.

(9) In any case where—

(a) notice has been given under subsection (1), the effect of which (whether taken alone or with other notices under that subsection) is that notice has been given under that subsection in respect of all pension rights under the scheme in question, and

(b) for that financial year in which the notice mentioned in paragraph (a) is given, the aggregate amount of the payments made under section 52(1) in relation to the scheme requires adjustment for the reason set out in section 52(3)(a) or (b), but

(c) the required adjustment cannot be made as mentioned in section 52(3), because (in consequence of the notice mentioned in paragraph (a)) no payments under section 52(1) fall to be made in relation to that scheme for subsequent financial years,

payments by way of adjustment, of an amount equal in the aggregate to the amount of the required adjustment, shall instead be made by the Minister to the persons administering the scheme or, as the case may require, by those persons to the Minister, before the expiration of the period of six months beginning with the date on which the amount of the required adjustment is determined.

(10) The Minister may give a direction to the persons administering a B.R. pension scheme requiring them to furnish to him—

(a) information from which the proportion mentioned in section 55(1)(a) can be finally determined for the financial year mentioned in subsection (9)(b) in the case of the scheme; or

(b) information about any such unforeseen increase or reduction in the aggregate amount of the pensions, increases and expenses payable under or incurred in connection with the scheme for that financial year as is mentioned in section 52(3)(b).

(11) Where payments by way of adjustment fall to be made under subsection (9), interest shall be payable from the end of the financial year in which the notice mentioned in subsection (9)(a) is given, by the person liable to make those payments, at such intervals and rates as may be determined by the Minister, on so much of the aggregate amount of the payments in question as for the time being remains unpaid.

(12) So much of—

(a) any payment by way of adjustment under subsection (9) which falls to be made, or

(b) any interest accrued under subsection (11),

as has not been paid shall be treated as a debt due.

(13) Nothing in this section affects the liability of the [F2 Authority] in respect of any relevant pension obligations.

(14) For the purposes of this section, the “capital value of the attributable unfunded obligations”, in the case of any B.R. pension scheme, means such amount as is, in the opinion of the person determining that capital value pursuant to subsection (4), the capital equivalent of the payments that would, apart from this section, have been expected to be made by the Minister under section 52(1), so far as relating to the pension rights identified in the notice under subsection (1), for the successive financial years beginning with the one mentioned in subsection (2)(a).

(15) Any sums required for the making of payments under this section by the Minister shall be paid out of money provided by Parliament.]

Textual Amendments

F1 S. 52A inserted (6.4.1994) by 1993 c. 43, s. 134(1), Sch. 11 para. 9; S.I. 1993/3227, art. 2

F2 Word in s. 52A(13) substituted (1.2.2001) by 2000 c. 38, s. 252, Sch. 27 para. 9; S.I. 2001/57, art. 3(1), Sch. 2 Pt. I (subject to transitional provisions and savings in Sch. 2 Pt. II)