31.—(1) Where a deferred member becomes an active member again before becoming entitled to the immediate payment of retirement benefits in respect of his former membership, he may elect to have his former membership aggregated with his membership on or after the date he becomes an active member again.
(2) However, an election may be made by a Class B member only as respects former Class B membership or Class C membership and an election may be made by a Class C member only as respects former Class C membership.
(3) Where a member elects under paragraph (1)–
(a)he ceases to be entitled to rights under the Scheme in respect of his former membership (except in so far as he is entitled by virtue of having become an active member again to rights in respect of the aggregated total membership); and
(b)he ceases to count as a deferred member for these Regulations as respects his former membership (unless he becomes a deferred member again after ceasing to be an active member).
(4) Where an election under paragraph (1) is made by a member who has ceased to be an active member more than once, the election may be made as respects his total membership at each of the times he so ceased or only as respects such of those periods of membership as are specified in the election.
(5) Where a member who may elect under paragraph (1) does not do so or does not elect as respects all periods of his membership–
(a)in applying regulations 18(1), 19(2) and (3), 26(3), 27(1) and (2) and 30(4) as respects any later membership, his total membership excludes unaggregated periods; and
(b)as respects each unaggregated period of his former membership–
(i)paragraph (3) does not apply,
(ii)he shall continue to be treated as a deferred member or, as the case may be, as a pensioner member (and not as an active member), and
(iii)he shall be entitled to the same rights as if he were not also an active member (but subject to regulation 33 and, in the case of a pensioner member, to regulation 28);
and references in these provisions to his appropriate administering authority or appropriate fund shall be construed accordingly.
(6) For this regulation a period of membership is an unaggregated period if–
(a)no previous election has been made under this regulation for its aggregation; and
(b)in the case of a period as respects which the member was entitled to elect under regulation E2(9)(c) of the 1987 Regulations (elections to remain entitled to preserved benefits) or any previous corresponding provision of the Scheme, such an election was made.
(7) An election under paragraph (1) must be made by notice in writing to the member’s appropriate administering authority in the employment in which he becomes an active member again whilst he is an active member in that employment.
(8) If the appropriate fund for membership in the new employment is different from that for any former employment as respects which the member is making the election, the notice under paragraph (7) must also be given to his appropriate administering authority in that former employment.
(9) References in this regulation to former membership include all membership which the member was entitled to count as total membership immediately before he ceased his former active membership (but excluding any unaggregated period).
(10) Where a person ceases to be an active member in one employment and immediately becomes an active member in another employment, for paragraph (1) of this regulation he shall be treated as if he were a deferred member as respects the first employment, despite never having ceased to be an active member of the Scheme.