3.—(1) These regulations shall apply to any person who is an officer described in paragraph (2) and fulfils each of the conditions specified in paragraph (3).
(2) The officers referred to in paragraph (1) are—
(a)a chief officer,
(b)a deputy chief officer,
(c)a recognised officer,
(d)a secretary or deputy secretary to an association, or
(e)a principal probation officer
whose appointment as so described was, or would but for the reorganisation effected by the Act have been, permanent.
(3) The conditions referred to in paragraph (1) are that—
(a)he attains or has attained the age of fifty on or before 31st March 1974;
(b)he is, subject to the provisions of paragraph (4), an officer within the meaning of paragraph (2) immediately before the commencement of these regulations;
(c)he would, if he did not become a person duly entitled, be a person to whom an order of transfer would apply;
(d)he will not attain normal retiring age on or before 31st March 1974;
(e)he has five years' reckonable service to his credit or will have five years' reckonable service to his credit on or before 31st March 1974;
(f)on or before the payment date he gives to the new authority an undertaking that an amount equal to any sum received by him by way of return of superannuation contributions (including interest) after termination of the employment in consequence of the notice of election will immediately be paid—
(i)to the fund authority, if the provisions of his relevant superannuation scheme enable him to be credited with benefit attributable to such sum, or
(ii)to the new authority, if the provisions of his relevant superannuation scheme do not enable him to be credited with benefit attributable to such sum;
(g)he has not, before the date which would otherwise be the payment date, accepted an offer of employment described in Schedule 2, and
(h)he is alive on the payment date.
(4) Notwithstanding condition (b) in paragraph (3), a person shall not fail to be a recognised officer by reason only of the fact that the resolution described in paragraph 1(a) of Schedule 1 is passed after the commencement of these regulations.
4.—(1) A person described in regulation 3(2) who fulfils conditions (a), (b), (c), (d) and (e) in regulation 3(3), may elect that section 260 of the Act (which provides for early retirement in lieu of compensation for loss of office) shall, and section 259 of the Act (which provides for compensation for loss of office) shall not, apply to him by giving notice before 28th February 1974 in the manner prescribed in paragraph (2).
(2) The notice shall be given to the employing authority in the form set out in Schedule 3 or a form substantially to the like effect, and a copy shall be sent to the new authority.
(3) A notice of election shall have effect only for the purposes of these regulations and shall not otherwise have any legal consequence as respects the person duly entitled or his employing authority.