Airports Act 1986

28 Compensation for loss or diminution of pension rights

(1) The Secretary of State may provide by regulations for the payment, by such persons as may be prescribed by or determined under the regulations, in such cases and to such extent as may be so prescribed or determined, of pensions, allowances or gratuities by way of compensation to or in respect of persons who have suffered loss or diminution of pension rights by reason of—

(a) any transfer of property, rights and liabilities under section 15(7), or

(b) the disposal under section 20(2) of any interests held by a principal council in a public airport company.

(2) Regulations under this section may—

(a) include provision as to the manner in which and the persons to whom any claim for compensation is to be made, and for the determination of all questions arising under the regulations;

(b) make or authorise the Secretary of State to make exceptions and conditions in relation to any classes of persons or any circumstances to which the regulations apply; and

(c) be framed so as to have effect from a date earlier than the making of the regulations ;

but regulations having effect from a date earlier than their making shall not place any individual who is qualified to participate in the benefits for which the regulations provide in a worse position than he would have been in if the regulations had been framed so as to have effect only from the date of their making.

(3) Regulations under this section may include either or both of the following provisions, namely—

(a) provision authorising the payment, without probate (or, in Scotland, confirmation) and without other proof of title, of any sum due under the regulations in respect of a person who has died to his personal representatives or such other persons as may be prescribed by the regulations; and

(b) provision rendering void any assignment of (or, in Scotland, assignation of) or charge on, or any agreement to assign or charge, any benefit under the regulations, and provision that on the bankruptcy of a person entitled to such a benefit (or, in Scotland, sequestration of the estate of, or granting of a trust deed for creditors by, such a person) no part of it shall pass to any trustee or other person acting on behalf of the creditors, except in accordance with an order made by a court in pursuance of any enactment specified in the regulations.

(4) Subject to subsection (5), where regulations under this section have made provision for the payment of pensions, allowances or gratuities as mentioned in subsection (1), compensation in respect of any such loss or diminution of pension rights as is mentioned in that subsection shall be paid only in accordance with those regulations in any case to which those regulations apply; and accordingly such compensation shall not be paid under any other statutory provision, by virtue of any provision in a contract or otherwise.

(5) Subsection (4) shall not prevent the payment of any sum K which a person is entitled by virtue of contractual rights acquired by him before such date as the Secretary of State may by order specify.

(6) Any regulations or order made under this section by the Secretary of State may make different provision for different cases to which those regulations or that order apply or applies, as the case may be, and may in particular make different provision as respects different areas.

(7) In this section—

• " pension", in relation to a person, means a pension, whether contributory or not, of any kind whatsoever payable to or in respect of him, and includes—

  (a)

  a gratuity so payable:

  (b)

  a return of contributions to a pension fund, with or without interest on or any other addition to those contributions; and

  (c)

  any sums payable on or in respect of the death of that person;

• " pension rights " includes, in relation to any person, all forms of right to or eligibility for the present or future payment of a pension, and any expectation of the accruer of a pension under any customary practice, and includes a right of allocation in respect of the present or future payment of a pension.