PART VRETIREMENT COMPENSATION FOR LOSS OR DIMINUTION OF PENSION RIGHTS
Persons to whom retirement compensation is payable
16.—(1) The Corporation shall, subject to the provisions of these regulations, pay retirement compensation to any pensionable officer to whom these regulations apply, who—
(a)has suffered loss or diminution of pension rights in consequence of a relevant event not later than 10 years after the material date;
(b)had not at the date on which the loss or diminution was occasioned reached normal retiring age;
(c)had been continuously engaged (without a break of more than 12 months at any one time) in relevant employment during the period beginning 8 years before the material date and ending at the date of the loss; and for this purpose the expression “relevant employment”
(d)has made a claim for compensation in accordance with the provisions of Part VII of these regulations not later than 2 years after the date on which the loss or diminution was occasioned or 2 years after the coming into operation of these regulations, whichever is the later; and
(e)has reached normal retiring age or has elected to take retirement compensation earlier in accordance with the following provisions of this Part of these regulations.
(2) Retirement compensation shall not, however, be paid:—
(a)to a person who has suffered loss or diminution of pension rights which has been occasioned by loss of employment in consequence of a relevant event, if his employment could have been terminated by reason of misconduct or incapacity to perform such duties as, immediately before that loss of employment, he was performing or might reasonably have been required to perform; or
(b)to a person who has been offered reasonably comparable employment under the Crown or in the service of the Corporation or of a publicly-owned company and who would not have suffered a loss or diminution of pension rights had he accepted that employment; or
(c)to a person who has suffered a diminution of pension rights which has been occasioned by a diminution in his emoluments of less than 2½%.
(3) Regulation 5(3) and (4) (which relate to offers of employment) shall apply for the purposes of this regulation as they apply for the purposes of regulation 5.
(4) References in this Part of these regulations to the date on which a loss or diminution of pension rights was occasioned shall subject to regulation 4(2) be interpreted as references to the date on which the loss of employment or emoluments took place or on which the diminution of emoluments began or the change in the terms of service occurred which occasioned the loss or diminution of pension rights.
Factors to be considered in assessing loss or diminution of pension rights
17. For the purpose of determining the amount of retirement compensation, if any, the loss or diminution of pension rights suffered by a person shall be regarded as the loss, if any, (adjusted in the case of diminution as provided in the following regulation) which he would have suffered had the conditions specified in any of the three following regulations as being appropriate to his case obtained and had he taken all reasonable steps open to him to mitigate the loss or diminution, and in assessing the loss (so adjusted in case of diminution) such of the factors specified in regulation 11 as are relevant to the particular case shall be taken into consideration, and in particular the following shall be taken into consideration—
(a)the terms of any pension scheme associated with any new employment undertaken; and
(b)the extent to which the person in question has sought pensionable employment, and the terms of any pension scheme which would have applied if he had accepted other suitable employment offered to him.
Extent of retirement compensation payable at normal retiring age
18.—(1) Subject to the provisions of these regulations, retirement compensation to be paid pursuant to regulation 16 to a person who has reached normal retiring age without having elected under either regulation 19 or regulation 20 to take retirement compensation earlier shall consist of—
(a)in the case of a person who has suffered loss of pension rights—
(i)an annual sum equivalent to the loss of any sum which under the last relevant pension scheme would have become payable to him in each year after retiring at normal retiring age;
(ii)a lump sum equivalent to the loss of any lump sum which would have become payable under that scheme on retiring at that age;
assessed in accordance with regulation 17,
(b)in the case of a person who has suffered a diminution of pension rights under the last relevant pension scheme by reason of a diminution of emoluments, the annual sum and the lump sum which respectively bear the same ratio to the sums which would be payable under the preceding provisions of this paragraph, had he suffered a loss of pension rights, as the amount by which his net annual emoluments have diminished bears to his net annual emoluments before diminution, and
(c)in the case of a person who has suffered a diminution of pension rights for any other reason, the sums which would be payable under (a) of this paragraph, had he suffered a loss of pension rights, respectively reduced by the amount of any sum payable under the last relevant pension scheme in each year after retirement compensation becomes payable and by the amount of any lump sum paid or payable under that scheme.
(2) The condition appropriate to the case of a person claiming retirement compensation under this regulation (which in accordance with regulation 17 is to be regarded as having obtained for the purpose of assessing loss or diminution of pension rights) is that the pensionable service which is to be taken into account for the purposes of the last relevant pension scheme is the pensionable service which would have been taken into account if on the date immediately preceding that on which the loss or diminution of pension rights was occasioned—
(a)he had reached normal retiring age and had then retired;
(b)he had complied with any requirement of the last relevant pension scheme as to a minimum period of qualifying service or contribution;
(c)he had continued any additional voluntary contributions until normal retiring age and had completed any payments in respect of added years which he was in the course of making;
(d)he had served for any additional period provided for in regulation 23.
(3) The sum referred to in paragraph (1)(a) which under the last relevant pension scheme would have been payable to a person in each year after retiring at normal retiring age shall be calculated without taking account of any reduction falling to be made in that sum by reason of the provisions of any Act relating to National Insurance, until he reaches the age at which under the last relevant pension scheme that sum would have been so reduced.
Retirement compensation payable on being incapacitated or at minimum pensionable age
19.—(1) A person to whom retirement compensation will be payable pursuant to regulations 16 and 18 on his reaching normal retiring age (if he does not elect to take it earlier under this or the following regulation) may claim, before reaching that age and by notice in writing to the Corporation, to be paid retirement compensation in accordance with this regulation if since the date on which the loss or diminution of pension rights was occasioned he has either:—
(a)become incapacitated in circumstances in which, if he had continued to be a pensionable officer, he would by reason of that incapacity have become eligible for a pension under the last relevant pension scheme; or
(b)reached the minimum pensionable age;
such retirement compensation as from the date from which it is payable to be in lieu of all other compensation payable as from that date under these regulations.
(2) For the purpose of determining the retirement compensation payable to a person claiming under this regulation, regulation 18 shall apply as it applies to a person who has reached normal retiring age, but subject to the provisions as to determining compensation hereinafter in this regulation stated and in the case of such incapacity as is mentioned in paragraph (1)(a) subject to the substitution for (a) of regulation 18(2) of the following—
“(a)he had become incapacitated in circumstances in which he would by reason of that incapacity have become eligible for a pension under the last relevant pension scheme.”
(3) Within 13 weeks of the receipt of a claim under paragraph (1)of this regulation the Corporation:—
(a)shall, if they do not consider that the claimant is eligible for payment of retirement compensation assessed under this regulation, so notify him in writing;
(b)shall, if they do consider that he is eligible, assess the retirement compensation to be paid and notify him in writing accordingly;
and any such notification shall for the purposes of these regulations be deemed to be a notification by the Corporation of a decision on a claim for compensation.
(4) The Corporation may require any person who makes a claim for retirement compensation under paragraph (1)(a) of this regulation to submit himself to a medical examination by a registered medical practitioner selected by the Corporation, and, if they do so, they shall also offer the person an opportunity of submitting a report from his own medical adviser as a result of an examination by him, and the Corporation shall take that report into consideration, together with the report of the medical practitioner selected by them when considering the claim.
(5) If a person elects to receive compensation under this regulation, he shall so inform the Corporation in writing within one month from the receipt of a notification under paragraph (3) or, where the claim has been the subject of an appeal, from the decision of the tribunal thereon, and if he fails to do so he shall be deemed to have elected not to receive such compensation.
(6) On a person electing to receive retirement compensation under this regulation in accordance with paragraph (5), such retirement compensation shall be payable as from the date on which the Corporation received notice in writing of the claim in accordance with paragraph (1) and if any compensation under these regulations has been paid in lieu of which by virtue of that paragraph retirement compensation under this regulation is payable, payments of such retirement compensation shall be withheld or reduced accordingly.
(7) The computation of compensation under this regulation shall be subject to the following conditions:—
(a)where the Corporation, by virtue of regulation 23 has taken into account a period of additional years, that period shall not include any additional years beyond the number of years which the person in question has served or could have served, had he not lost his employment, before the date on which the claim was received by the Corporation; and
(b)if, by reason of any provision of the last relevant pension scheme for a minimum benefit, the amount of the pension which would have been payable under that scheme is in excess of that attributable to the person's actual service, no account shall be taken of any such period of additional years except to the extent (if any) by which it exceeds the number of years represented by the difference between his actual service and the period by reference to which the minimum benefit has been calculated; and
(c)if the number of years of pensionable service taken into account in accordance with regulation 18 as applied by paragraph (2) of this regulation is less than the minimum number of years of qualifying service prescribed by the last relevant pension scheme, the annual sum and lump sum payable as retirement compensation under this regulation shall, notwithstanding any minimum benefit prescribed by the pension scheme, not exceed such proportion of such minimum benefit as the number of years of pensionable service so taken into account bears to that minimum number of years of qualifying service.
Premature retirement compensation
20.—(1) A person to whom retirement compensation will be payable pursuant to regulations 16 and 18 on his reaching normal retiring age (if he does not elect to take it earlier under this or the preceding regulation) by reason of his having lost employment as a pensionable officer, if at the date of the loss he had reached 50 years of age, may, before reaching normal retiring age and by notice in writing to the Corporation, claim to be paid retirement compensation assessed in accordance with this regulation, such retirement compensation as from the date on which it is payable to be in lieu of all compensation payable as from that date under these regulations other than resettlement compensation.
(2) No claim under this regulation shall be entertained if the claimant has also claimed long-term compensation and the claim under this regulation is made more than 2 years after the determination of the claim for long-term compensation or after any review of that determination.
(3) For the purpose of determining the retirement compensation payable to a person claiming under this regulation, regulation 18 shall apply as it applies to a person who has reached normal retiring age, but subject to the omission of (d) of regulation 18(2).
(4) Paragraphs (3), (5) and (6) of regulation 19 shall apply in relation to a claim made under this regulation as they apply in relation to a claim made under regulation 19.
Pension contributions
21.—(1) A person to whom retirement compensation will be payable shall pay to the Corporation an amount equal to any sum which was paid to him by way of return of pension contributions, including any interest, after ceasing to be employed, and the Corporation may at his request repay that amount to him at any time before retirement compensation is payable, but if that amount is not paid to the Corporation, or is repaid by them to the person, the retirement compensation payable to him shall be reduced by an annual amount the capital value of which is equal to the amount of the said pension contributions.
(2) For the purposes of this regulation the expression “pension contributions”
Retirement compensation payable to a person who obtains further pensionable employment
22. Where a pensionable officer to whom these regulations apply, after the date on which a loss or diminution of pension rights was occasioned in consequence of a relevant event, enters employment other than that in which he suffered that loss or diminution and for the purpose of a pension scheme associated with that new employment there falls to be taken into account any period of service which also falls to be taken into account as being service reckonable under the last relevant pension scheme for the purpose of assessing any retirement compensation payable to him, then:—
(a)subject as is in this regulation stated, the foregoing provisions of this Part of these regulations shall apply to him as if he had suffered a diminution in pension rights occasioned by an annual diminution of emoluments as a pensionable officer to whom these regulations apply which is equivalent to the amount by which his net annual emoluments, as they were immediately before the date on which the loss or diminution of pension rights in respect of which retirement compensation is payable was occasioned, exceed his net annual emoluments in his new employment immediately after entering that employment; and
(b)if his claim to retirement compensation is for diminution of pension rights by reason of his emoluments having diminished, the retirement compensation payable shall not exceed the retirement compensation which would have been payable if he had not entered new employment.
Adjustment for additional years
23.—(1) Subject as hereinafter stated, in calculating the maximum retirement compensation payable to a person who has reached the age of 40 years at the date on which the loss or diminution of pension rights was occasioned, in addition to the service taken into account as being reckonable for the purposes of his last relevant pension scheme, a period not exceeding the aggregate of the following shall also be taken into account as if it were so reckonable, and retirement compensation shall be adjusted accordingly, that is to say—
(a)2 years, whether or not he has completed any years of service after reaching the age of 40 years; and
(b)2 years for each complete year of reckonable service, not exceeding 4 years of reckonable service in all, which elapsed between the date of his reaching the age of 40 years and the date on which the loss or diminution of pension rights was occasioned; and
(c)one year for each such complete year after the fourth of reckonable service so elapsing:
(i) the number of years reckonable for the purposes of the last relevant pension scheme for which he would have served after the date on which the loss or diminution of pension rights was occasioned had he continued to be employed as an officer subject to that scheme until normal retiring age; or
(ii) the number of years of his reckonable service on that date; or
(iii) 15 years.
(2) In applying the method of calculation prescribed by the last relevant pension scheme for the purposes of determining retirement compensation, any period added under this regulation shall be aggregated with any years of service which under that scheme entail reduction of a pension benefit because of a retirement pension payable under section 30 of the National Insurance Act 1965
(3) This regulation shall not apply to retirement compensation payable in accordance with regulation 20.
Other adjustments
24. If retirement compensation is payable in respect of the loss or diminution of rights to a pension which under the last relevant pension scheme would have been increased or supplemented in specified circumstances, or might at the discretion of the body administering the scheme have been increased or supplemented to a specified extent, the Corporation shall in those circumstances, or may at their discretion, as appropriate, increase or supplement to a proportionate extent the corresponding component of retirement compensation, and in the exercise of this discretion the Corporation shall have regard to the terms of any relevant resolution of the body administering the pension scheme with regard to the increase of benefits.
Surrender to spouse
25. If under his last relevant pension scheme a person would have been entitled to surrender a proportion of any pension which might have become payable to him in favor of his spouse or any dependant, then, if he so desires and informs the Corporation by notice in writing accordingly within one month after becoming entitled to retirement compensation under these regulations, he may surrender a proportion of as much of the said compensation as is payable by way of an annual sum on the like terms and conditions and in consideration of the like payments by the Corporation as if the said annual sum were a pension to which he had become entitled under the said pension scheme.
Balances payable to personal representatives
26.—(1) If a person to whom retirement compensation is or will be payable dies before he has received by way of retirement compensation sums which in the aggregate are equivalent to the amount of any contributions repaid by him under regulation 21, together with compound interest thereon up to the date of his death calculated at the rate and in the manner specified in the last relevant pension scheme (or where no rate is so specified at the rate of 3 per cent. per annum with half-yearly rests as from 1st April or 1st October next following the half-year in which the amount was repaid), and no pension or gratuity falls to be paid to his personal representatives, or to his widow, or any dependant of his, by reason of his having been immediately or prospectively entitled to retirement compensation, there shall be paid to his personal representatives the difference between the aggregate amount which he has received by way of retirement compensation as aforesaid and the said equivalent sum with interest.
(2) For the purposes of this regulation a person who has surrendered any part of his retirement compensation under regulation 25 shall be deemed to have received during any period the amount of compensation for that period which he would have received but for any such surrender.
Payment of compensation under Part V
27. Retirement compensation payable as an annual sum to or in respect of any person shall be payable at intervals equivalent to those at which the corresponding benefit would have been payable under the person's last relevant pension scheme or at such intervals as may be agreed between the person entitled to receive the compensation and the Corporation.