The Local Government Pension Scheme (Offender Management) (Amendment) Regulations 2014

Amendment of the Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 2013

7.  After regulation 103 (changes of administering authority) insert—

“Change of administering authority in connection with probation service arrangements

104.— (1) This regulation applies where in connection with arrangements made for the provision of probation services under section 3 of the Offender Management Act 2007 (power to make arrangements for the provision of probation services) the employees of a probation trust are transferred to another person and—

(a) an administering authority becomes a member’s appropriate administering authority (“the new authority”); and

(b) immediately before it does so, another authority was that member’s appropriate administering authority (“the former authority”),

and for the purposes of this regulation it is not material whether the member in question was in the employment of the probation trust immediately before the transfer date or the subject of a transfer of employment to another person.

(2) Within 30 days of the transfer date—

(a) the transferring member’s former Scheme employer and (where applicable) the transferring member’s new Scheme employer must supply the former authority and the new authority with such information as those authorities may reasonably require to perform their functions under these Regulations in respect of the transferring members under the Scheme;

(b) the former authority must supply the new authority with such information as the new authority may reasonably require to perform its functions under these Regulations in respect of the transferring members under the Scheme.

(3) With effect from the transfer date the liability to pay benefits or a refund of contributions under the Scheme to and in respect of the transferring members shall transfer to the new authority and the former authority must make a transfer payment from its pension fund to the pension fund of the new authority in respect of the transfer share determined in accordance with actuarial guidance issued by the Secretary of State by agreement between an actuary appointed by the former authority and an actuary appointed by the new authority.

(4) Where the actuaries cannot agree the transfer share or any other matter that needs to be agreed in order to implement the provisions of this Regulation (assuming for this purpose that the payment date is the transfer date) on or before the agreement date—

(a) the matter shall be referred to a third actuary, chosen by agreement between the actuaries or in default of agreement by the President of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries; and

(b) that actuary’s determination, including as to who shall pay the costs of the referral, shall be final.

(5) The transfer payment shall be made in such manner (including as to the proportion of cash and other permitted assets that will comprise the transfer payment and whether the transfer payment is paid in one or more instalments) as the new authority shall reasonably require.

(6) The transfer payment from each former authority must be paid on the payment date.

(7) Where agreement cannot be reached in relation to the payment date on or before the later of the agreement date and 30 days after the date on which the transfer share has been determined by agreement under paragraph (3) or by an actuary’s determination under paragraph (4), the new authority must notify the former authority of the date or dates, which shall be no later than the final payment date, and the date or dates so notified shall become the payment date.

(8) If a transfer payment is not made in accordance with paragraph (6) or (7), the new authority may by notice in writing require the former authority to pay interest on the amount that falls due and is not so paid.

(9) Interest payable under paragraph (8) is to be calculated at 3 per cent per annum on a day-to-day basis from the date which falls three calendar months after the payment date to the date of actual payment, compounded with three-monthly rests.

(10) When the transfer payment has been made in full and any adjustments made in accordance with actuarial guidance issued by the Secretary of State —

(a) no other payment or transfer of assets shall be made from the pension fund of the former authority by reason of membership covered by the transfer payment;

(b) the former authority shall have no liability to make any benefit payments or right to receive contributions for any period prior to, on, or subsequent to the transfer date in respect of a transferring member other than as provided for under arrangements made under paragraph (12);

(c) except where arrangements under paragraph (12) provide otherwise, any payment made or income received by the former authority in respect of a transferring member after the transfer date shall be reimbursed to the former authority by the new authority or paid by the former authority to the new authority (as the case may be) within 45 days of receipt or payment by the former authority.

(11) The former authority shall provide such assistance and further information in its possession (or to which it has access) as the new authority may reasonably require in relation to the calculation and administration of benefits payable to and in respect of the transferring members under the Scheme, subject to reimbursement by the new authority of the former authority’s reasonable costs for doing so.

(12) The new authority and the former authority may agree such arrangements as may be necessary for the former authority to continue making benefit payments to or in respect of the transferring members for a period after the transfer date until the new authority is able to make such payments itself (such agreement not to be unreasonably withheld by the former authority).

(13) The former authority and new authority must cooperate in order to—

(a) permit members to continue to make AVCs and SCAVCs pursuant to arrangements entered into prior to the transfer date notwithstanding the change of administering authority; or,

(b) at the member’s request, procure the transfer of the transferring members’ accumulated AVCs and SCAVCs (including investment returns thereon) to arrangements established by the new authority.

(14) Where a member wishes to continue to make AVCs or SCAVCs in accordance with paragraph 13(a), regulation 17 (additional voluntary contributions) applies in respect of that member as if the references in that regulation to “appropriate administering authority” were references to the administering authority which was the member’s appropriate administering authority at the time the arrangements were entered into.

(15) For the purposes of this regulation and save where the context otherwise requires—

“agreement date” means the date which falls 120 days after the date on which the administering authorities have been notified in writing of the transfer of employees, or the date the information described in paragraph (2) has been received, whichever is the later;

“final payment date” means the date that is 12 months after the later of the date on which the former authority has been notified in writing of the transfer of employees and the date the information described in paragraph (2) has been received;

“a local government pension scheme” means the Scheme or any of the Earlier Schemes within the meaning of regulation 1(6) of the Local Government Pension Scheme (Transitional Provisions, Savings and Amendment) Regulations 2014;

“member” includes deferred members, deferred pensioner members and pensioner members of a local government pension scheme and those entitled through them, including pension credit members;

“payment date” means the date or dates agreed between the former authority and the new authority for the making of the transfer payment to the new authority or the date or dates notified to the former authority in accordance with paragraph (7) where agreement cannot be reached;

“permitted assets” means liquid, transferable holdings of pooled vehicles which track market capitalisation weighted indices;

“transfer date” means the date on which the new pension fund becomes the member’s appropriate fund;

“transferring members” means the employees and former employees (and those entitled through them, including pension credit members) of a probation trust (or its predecessor local probation boards or probation committees) who are the subject of the changes of Scheme employer and appropriate administering authority referred to in paragraph (1) and any persons specified in accordance with regulation 3A(5)(d) or (e) (civil servants etc engaged in probation provision) as a person to whom regulation 3A(5) applies;

“transfer payment” means a transfer of cash in British pounds sterling or permitted assets equal in value to the transfer share;

“transfer share” means the value of the assets allocated to the actual and potential liabilities payable from the pension fund of a former authority in respect of the benefits that have accrued to or in respect of transferring members as at the transfer date (whether that accrual arose before the commencement of these Regulations or afterwards), adjusted to the relevant payment date, calculated in accordance with actuarial guidance issued by the Secretary of State;

“probation trust” means a probation trust established under section 5 of the Offender Management Act 2007.”.