The Local Government Pension Scheme and Discretionary Compensation (Local Authority Members in England) Regulations 2003

• Citation: S.I. 2003/1022
• Sections: 34

Section 1 Citation, commencement and application

(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Local Government Pension Scheme and Discretionary Compensation (Local Authority Members in England) Regulations 2003 and shall come into force on 1st May 2003.

(2) These Regulations apply only to England .

Section 2 Amendment of The Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 1997

The Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 1997 shall be amended in accordance with regulations 3 to 8 of these Regulations.

Section 3 Re-employed and rejoining deferred members

In regulation 32 (re-employed and rejoining deferred members), for paragraph (2) substitute—

(2) But an election may only be made—

(a) by a Class B member as respects former Class B membership or Class C membership;

(b) by a Class C member as respects former Class C membership; and

(c) by a councillor member as respects former councillor membership.

Section 4 Eligibility: members of local authorities

In regulation 131 (further cases of eligibility: non-employees)—

(a) in paragraph (2), after sub-paragraph (g) add the following—

(h) an eligible councillor

(b) after paragraph (14), add the following—

(15) If a councillor member is an active member, he shall be treated as being in the whole-time employment of the local authority of which he is a member and references to employment by or under such an employer and all similar expressions shall be construed accordingly.

Section 5 Modifications for councillor members

After regulation 137 (certain City of London employees and former contributors), insert the following—

Councillor Members

Members of local authorities—general

(137A) These Regulations apply to councillor members in respect of their councillor membership with the modifications set out in Schedule 8.

Section 6 Interpretation

In Schedule 1—

(a) after the definition of “contributory employee” insert—

“Councillor member” means a person who is a member of the Scheme by reason of being an eligible councillor;

“Councillor membership” means any period of membership which counts in respect of service as a member of a local authority and not other local government employment;

(b) after the definition of “eligible child” insert—

“eligible councillor” means a member of a local authority in England who is eligible under or by virtue of regulations made under section 18 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 (schemes for allowances) to be a member of the Scheme;

Section 7 Schedule 3—Excluded Membership

In Schedule 3—

(a) at the end of the Table add—

(7) Membership which is not councillor membership

(8) Councillor membership

(b) at the end of the Notes to the Table add—

(6) Paragraphs 7 and 8 shall be disregarded for the purposes of paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 and paragraph 7 shall be disregarded for the purposes of paragraph 1 of Schedule 8.

Section 8 Schedule 8—Eligible councillors

After Schedule 7 insert as Schedule 8 the schedule set out in the Schedule to these Regulations.

Section 9 The Local Government (Discretionary Payments) Regulations 1996 and The Local Government (Early Termination of Employment) (Discretionary Compensation) (England and Wales) Regulations 2000

(1) The Local Government (Discretionary Payments) Regulations 1996 shall be amended—

(a) in regulation 33, by inserting after paragraph (1)—

(1A) But “relevant employment” shall not include any period as a councillor member, the Mayor of London or a member of the London Assembly which is treated as employment for the purposes of the LGPS Regulations.

(b) in regulation 39(3), by deleting “or” after sub-paragraph (e) and adding after sub-paragraph (f)—

; or

(g) as a councillor member, the Mayor of London or a member of the London Assembly which is treated as employment for the purposes of the LGPS Regulations.

(2) The Local Government (Early Termination of Employment) (Discretionary Compensation) (England and Wales) Regulations 2000 shall be amended by substituting for the definition of “excluded employment” in Schedule 1 the following—

“Excluded employment” means—

a period of employment—

in an independent school (within the meaning of section 463 of the Education Act 1996) ; or

in relation to which a pension or other benefits (other than a refund of contributions) is being or has been paid under an occupational pension scheme; or

a period as—

the Mayor of London,

a member of the London Assembly, or

a councillor member

in respect of which the person is treated as being in employment for the purposes of the Pension Regulations.

Section 1

For regulation 6(3) (latest joining age) substitute—

An eligible councillor may not become an active member after—

his 70th birthday or,

any earlier day after his 65th birthday when his total membership equals 40 years.

Section 2

In regulation 7(6) (joining the scheme), omit “or” at the end of sub-paragraph (b) and after sub-paragraph (c) add—

, or

(d) to eligible councillors

Section 3

In regulation 9(1A) (periods of membership: “total membership”), for “65th birthday” and “65” substitute “70th birthday” and “70” respectively.

Section 4

For regulation 13 (meaning of “pay”) substitute—

(13)

(1) A councillor member’s pay in any year is the total of such of his—

(a) basic allowance, and

(b) special responsibility allowance

as may be treated as amounts in respect of which pensions under these Regulations are payable as set out in a scheme made under or by virtue of the Local Authorities (Members' Allowances) (England) Regulations 2003 .

(2) “Basic allowance” and “special responsibility allowance” have the same meaning as in regulations 4 and 5 respectively of the Local Authorities (Members' Allowances) (England) Regulations 2003.

(3) All references to “pay” in these Regulations in respect of a councillor member and his councillor membership shall be construed accordingly.

(4) “Career average pay” in these Regulations shall mean an amount equal to the total of a councillor member’s pay for each year or part year of his active membership divided by the number of those years or part years.

(5) When calculating a councillor member’s career average pay, the pay for any year other than the final year shall be increased in proportion to the increase in the Retail Price Index from the last day of that year up to the last day of the month in which the councillor member’s active membership ends.

(6) “Year” means the 12 months ending with 31st March save that in respect of the year ending with 31st March 2004, it means the period from the coming into force of these Regulations until 31st March 2004.

(7) “Final year” means the year during which, or at the end of which, the councillor member’s active membership ends.

(8) “Retail Price Index” means the index of retail prices for the United Kingdom published by the Office of National Statistics.

(9) No sum may be taken into account in calculating pay unless income tax liability has been determined on it.

Section 5

For regulation 20 (calculations) substitute—

(20)

(1) The pension of a councillor member shall be

(2) The retirement grant of a councillor member shall be three times his pension.

(3) Where a councillor member was an active member in more than 40 years, only the 40 consecutive years (ending in the last 10 years of councillor membership) which produce the highest pension shall be taken into account.

(4) Unless otherwise indicated, references to the amounts of pensions are to their annual rate.

(5) Benefits payable to a councillor member who remains in service after his 70th birthday as referred to in regulation 25A(1) (as that regulation applies to a councillor member) shall be increased at such a rate as is shown as appropriate in guidance issued by the Government Actuary in respect of each day that payment of benefits is delayed between his 70th birthday and the date of his retirement.

Section 6

Omit regulations 21 (final pay), 22 (other final pay periods) and 23 (permanent reductions in pay).

Section 7

In regulations 19(2)(a) (general qualification for benefits), 25(3) (normal retirement) and 25A(1) (retirement after the normal retirement date), for “65th birthday” substitute “70th birthday” and in regulation 25A(1) omit the words “with the consent of his employing authority”.

Section 8

Omit regulation 26 (redundancy).

Section 9

In regulation 27 (ill-health)—

(a) for paragraph (1) substitute—

(1) Where a councillor member ceases to be a member of his local authority by reason of being permanently incapable of discharging efficiently the duties of that office because of ill-health or infirmity of mind or body, he is entitled to an ill-health pension and grant

(b) in paragraph (5), in the definition of “permanently incapable”, for “65th birthday” substitute “70th birthday”.

Section 10

In regulation 28 (amounts of ill-health pension and grant)—

(a) in paragraph (3), for “65” substitute “70”;

(b) omit paragraph (4); and

(c) for paragraph (9), substitute—

(9) If a councillor member is entitled under regulation 27(3) to an ill-health grant (but not a pension), the amount of the grant is calculated by multiplying the member’s career average pay by—

.

Section 11

Omit regulations 29 (re-employed pensioners) and 30 (further provisions about elections under regulation 29).

Section 12

In regulation 31 (other early leavers: deferred retirement benefits and elections for early payment)—

(a) in paragraph (2), for “60” substitute “65”;

(b) in paragraph (6), for “If a member who has left a local government employment” substitute “If a councillor member who has ceased to be a member of the local authority”; and

(c) in paragraph (7), for “60th” substitute “65th”.

Section 13

(1) Regulation 32(1) (re-employed and rejoining deferred members) shall only apply to a councillor member in respect of any councillor membership where both the former membership and the membership as an active member referred to in that paragraph are councillor membership in the same appropriate fund.

(2) In regulation 32 —

(a) in paragraph (5), for “Where a member who may elect under paragraph (1) does not do so or does not elect as respects all periods of his membership” substitute “In the case of a councillor member”; and

(b) omit paragraph (8).

Section 14

Omit regulation 32A (concurrent employments).

Section 15

In regulation 38 (death grants), for paragraphs (3) to (5A) substitute—

(3) The death grant of a councillor member shall be twice his career average pay.

(4) The death grant for a councillor member who is a deferred member at the date of his death is 3 times the annual pension that would have been payable to him if he had retired at the date of his death.

(5) The death grant for a councillor member who is a pensioner member at the date of his death is—

(a) where he was in receipt of a pension at the date of his death, an amount equal to 5 times his former retirement pension less the amount of any pension paid to him, or

(b) where he remained in service after his 70th birthday as referred to in regulation 25A(1) (as modified in respect of councillor members) and is not in receipt of a pension at his death, an amount equal to 2 times career average pay.

(5A) The amount of a deceased councillor member’s former retirement pension is the amount of the pension he would have received immediately before his death, but for—

(a) regulation 31 (elections for early payment),

(b) regulation 33 (surrenders),

(c) regulation 50 (commutation in cases of exceptional ill-health), or

(d) regulation 110 (application of abatement policy in individual cases).

(5B) A pensioner member includes a councillor member who would have been entitled to a pension but for regulation 110 (application of abatement policy in individual cases).

(5C) But paragraph (5B) does not stop a councillor member to whom it applies from also being an active member.

Section 16

In regulation 40 (surviving spouse’s short-term pension)—

(a) in paragraph (4), for “final pay” substitute “career average pay”; and

(b) in paragraph (5), omit “(but see regulation 42)”.

Section 17

In regulation 41 (surviving spouse’s long-term pension)—

(a) in paragraph (5), for “the multiplier for” to the end of that paragraph, substitute—

the long-term pension is—

(b) in paragraph (6), omit “(but see regulation 42)”.

Section 18

In regulation 45(4) (children’s short-term pensions) for “final pay” substitute “career average pay”.

Section 19

In regulation 46(8)(b) (children’s long-term pensions), for “65th birthday” substitute “70th birthday”.

Section 20

Omit regulation 48 (dependants of re-employed pensioners).

Section 21

Omit regulation 52 (power of employing authority to increase total membership of members leaving employment at or after 50), regulation 53 (power of employing authority to increase total membership of new members), and regulation 55 (payments to increase total membership).

Section 22

In regulation 66 (elections as to use of accumulated value of AVCs)—

(a) in paragraph (1)(c)(i), delete “or 26 (redundancy etc. )”; and

(b) omit paragraphs (4) and (5).

Section 23

Omit regulations 67 to 72 (establishment of shared cost AVC schemes).

Section 24

Omit paragraph (4) of regulation 87 (rights to return of contributions).

Section 25

Omit regulations 119 to 126 (bulk transfer arrangements, transfers in, community scheme transfers and payments between funds and authorities).