The National Health Service Pension Scheme Regulations 1995

Mental health officers E+W+S

R3.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), this regulation applies to a member who at the coming into force of these Regulations—

(a) is in pensionable employment under the scheme as a mental health officer, or

(b) has accrued rights to benefits under the scheme arising out of a previous period in which he was engaged in such employment and at no time since the last occasion on which he was so engaged has he had a break in pensionable employment for any one period of 5 years or more.

(2) Subject to paragraph (3), this regulation shall cease to apply if the member has a break in pensionable employment for any one period of 5 years or more ending after the coming into force of these Regulations.

(3) Paragraph (2) shall be without prejudice to the operation of paragraph (5)(a) in relation to any period prior to this regulation ceasing to apply.

(4) For the purposes of paragraphs (1) and (2), “pensionable employment" includes employment that qualified the member for benefit under a health service scheme.

(5) Subject to paragraphs (6) and (7), where this regulation applies—

(a) if the member has in excess of 20 years’ pensionable service as a mental health officer, regulation E1 (normal retirement pension) will apply as if the reference, in paragraph (1) of that regulation, to age 60, were a reference to age 55, but only if the member was in pensionable employment as a mental health officer immediately before leaving; and

(b) each complete year of pensionable service as a mental health officer in excess of 20 years will count as 2 years’ pensionable service.

(6) For the purposes of calculating the 20 year period referred to in paragraph (5)—

(a) there shall, in the case of a member who has reached age 50, be taken into account any period before he became a mental health officer in which he was employed on the staff of a hospital used wholly or partly for the treatment of persons suffering from mental disorder and in which he devoted the whole or substantially the whole of his time to the treatment and care of such persons, unless it would be more favourable to the member (or, if the member has died, to the persons entitled to benefits in respect of the member) to disregard any such period;

(b) pensionable service does not include additional service bought under regulation Q1 (right to buy additional service).

(7) Paragraph (5) does not apply—

(a) for the purpose of calculating, under regulations E2 (early retirement pension on grounds of ill–health) and H3, H4 and H5 (child allowance), the pensionable service the member could have completed if he had stayed in pensionable employment until a particular age;

(b) for the purpose of calculating a minimum widow’s or widower’s pension based on the member’s pensionable service after 5th April 1978 under regulation G6(2) (member marries after leaving pensionable employment); or

(c) for the purpose of calculating a member’s benefits where it would be more favourable to the member or other person entitled to the benefits not to apply that paragraph and to calculate the member’s benefits by reference to the member’s final year’s pensionable pay when the member leaves pensionable employment, completes 45 years’ pensionable service (calculated without regard to paragraph (5)(b)), reaches age 65 or dies, whichever occurs first.

(8) Where, by virtue of paragraph (7)(c), paragraph (5) does not apply, the amount of any contributions that should have been paid by the member under regulation D1 (contributions by members), but which were not deducted from the member’s earnings, will be deducted from the lump sum payable on the member’s retirement or death.

(9) If a member who has in excess of 20 years pensionable service for the purposes of paragraph (5) leaves NHS employment before reaching age 55 because of redundancy, but without becoming entitled to a pension under regulation E3 (early retirement pension on grounds of redundancy), and was in pensionable employment as a mental health officer immediately before leaving, regulation L1 (preserved pension) will apply as if the references in that regulation, to age 60, were to age 55.

(10) Subject to paragraph (12), if any member to whom this regulation applies becomes entitled to a preserved pension under regulation L1 on ceasing to be a mental health officer, the pension will be based on the greater of the member’s basic service and a period of service calculated as—

where— “basic service" means the member’s pensionable service, calculated without regard to paragraph (5);

“potential basic service" means the pensionable service the member could have completed if he had stayed in pensionable employment until age 55, calculated without regard to paragraph (5); and

“potential service" means the pensionable service the member could have completed, taking account of paragraph (5), if he had stayed in pensionable employment as a mental health officer until age 55.

(11) Subject to paragraph (12), if a member with at least 2 years’ qualifying service ceases to be a mental health officer while continuing in pensionable employment, the member’s pension in respect of the period before ceasing to be a mental health officer will, if it would be more favourable to him, be of an amount equal to the preserved pension to which the member would have become entitled in accordance with paragraph (10) if he had left pensionable employment on the day he ceased to be a mental health officer.

(12) Paragraphs (10) and (11) do not apply if the member again becomes a mental health officer within 12 months after the date on which he ceased to be a mental health officer.

(13) Subject to regulation Q6(4), if a member elects to pay for additional service or unreduced retirement lump sum by regular additional contributions under regulation Q6 he may elect to make those contributions from his next birthday following the date on which he elected to buy the additional service or unreduced lump sum until his 55th, 60th or 65th birthday, whichever he chooses, and that date will be the chosen date under regulation Q6(3).

(14) In this regulation, “mental health officer" means—

(a) an officer working whole–time on the medical or nursing staff of a hospital used wholly or partly for the treatment of persons suffering from mental disorder, who devotes all, or almost all, of his time to the treatment or care of persons suffering from mental disorder;

(b) any other officer employed in such a hospital who is within a class or description of officers designated by the Secretary of State as mental health officers for this purpose; and

(c) a consultant, senior hospital medical officer or senior hospital dental officer in part–time NHS employment who devotes all, or almost all, his time to the treatment or care of persons suffering from mental disorder and who satisfies the requirements of paragraph (15).

(15) A member satisfies the requirements of this paragraph if he holds a whole–time specialist post and either—

(a) he receives at least 10/11ths of the pensionable pay that he would have received for whole–time NHS employment, or

(b) he was appointed before 1st January 1980 and retains the right, to which he was entitled on 31st December 1979, to be paid at least 9/11ths of the pensionable pay that he would have received for whole–time NHS employment.

(16) The Secretary of State may agree to treat as a mental health officer any member who, by reason of having transferred to part–time pensionable employment, would otherwise have ceased to be a mental health officer providing that person is engaged in work which had it been whole time, would have qualified that member for mental health officer status and there is no break in pensionable employment between the transfer from whole–time to part–time employment.

(17) Where a member is treated as a mental health officer by virtue of paragraph (15) or (16), each year of part–time pensionable service shall, for the purpose of determining whether the member has in excess of 20 years pensionable service for the purposes of paragraph (5) (but for no other purpose), be treated as if it were a year of whole–time pensionable service.