The NHS Pensions Agency (Asiantaeth Pensiynau'r GIG) Regulations 2004

• Citation: S.I. 2004/668
• Sections: 18

Section 1 Citation, commencement and interpretation

(1) These Regulations may be cited as the NHS Pensions Agency (Asiantaeth Pensiynau'r GIG) Regulations 2004 and shall come into force on 1st April 2004.

(2) In these Regulations—

“ the Act ” means the National Health Service Act 1977;

“the Agency” means the NHS Pensions Agency (Asiantaeth Pensiynau'r GIG) established by the NHS Pensions Agency (Asiantaeth Pensiynau'r GIG) (Establishment and Constitution) Order 2004 ;

“appropriate authority” means—

in relation to England, the Secretary of State for Health; and

in relation to Wales, the National Assembly for Wales;

“the chairman” means, unless the context otherwise requires, the chairman of the Agency;

“the FHSAA ” means the Family Health Service Appeal Authority constituted under section 49S of the Act ;

“health service body” means—

a Strategic Health Authority , Special Health Authority , Primary Care Trust , NHS trust , Local Health Board or NHS foundation trust ,

a Health Board or Special Health Board constituted under section 2 of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 or the Scottish Dental Practice Board, the Common Service Agency for the Scottish Health Service or an NHS trust constituted under, respectively, sections 4, 10 or 12A of that Act ,

the Dental Practice Board constituted under section 37(1) of the Act ,

the Commission for Health Improvement ,

the Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection ,

the Public Health Laboratory Service Board ,

the Secretary of State,

the Northern Ireland Central Services Agency for the Health and Social Services established under the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972 ,

a special health and social services agency established under the Health and Personal Social Services (Special Agencies) (Northern Ireland) Order 1990 ,

a Health and Social Services Board constituted under the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972,

a Health and Social Services trust established under the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 , and

the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety for Northern Ireland;

“member” means, unless the context otherwise requires, a member of the Agency other than the chairman;

“national NHS disqualification” means—

a decision made by the FHSAA under section 49N of the Act ,or

a decision by the NHS Tribunal which is treated as a national disqualification by the FHSAA by virtue of regulation 6(4)(b) of the Abolition of the National Health Service Tribunal (Consequential Provisions) Regulations 2001 or regulation 6(4)(b) of the Abolition of the National Health Service Tribunal (Consequential Provisions) Regulations 2002 ;

“NHS Pension Scheme” means the National Health Service Pension Scheme for England and Wales

“the NHS Tribunal” means the Tribunal constituted under section 46 of the Act for England and Wales;

“non-officer member” means a member who is not an officer of the Agency; and

“primary care list” means—

a list referred to in section 49N(1)(a) to (c) of the Act,

a list of persons undertaking to provide general medical services prepared in accordance with regulations under section 29 of the Act as the list existed on or before 31st March 2004,

a list of persons approved by a Primary Care Trust for the purpose of assisting in the provision of general medical services prepared in accordance with regulations under section 43D(1)of the Act as the list existed on or before 31st March 2004, or

a services list referred to in section 8ZA(1)(a) of the National Health Service (Primary Care) Act 1997 as the list existed on or before 31 March 2004.

Section 2 Appointment and tenure of office of chairman and members

(1) The chairman and non-officer members shall be appointed by the Secretary of State.

(2) Subject to regulation 5 (termination of tenure of office of chairman and non-officer members), the term of office of the chairman and non-officer members shall be such period, not exceeding 4 years, as the Secretary of State shall specify on making the appointment.

(3) Subject to regulation 3 (disqualification for appointment), the chairman and any non-officer member shall, on the termination of his office, be eligible for re-appointment.

(4) The chairman and non-officer members shall appoint the members who are officers of the Agency.

Section 3 Disqualification for appointment

(1) Subject to regulation 4 (cessation of disqualification), a person shall be disqualified for appointment as the chairman or as a non-officer member if—

(a) he has, within the preceding five years, been convicted in the United Kingdom of any offence or convicted elsewhere of an offence which, if committed in any part of the United Kingdom would constitute a criminal offence in that part, and in either case has been sentenced to a period of imprisonment (whether suspended or not) for a period of not less than three months without the option of a fine, and which has not been quashed on appeal;

(b) he is the subject of a bankruptcy restrictions order or an interim bankruptcy restrictions order;

(c) he has been dismissed within the previous 5 years, otherwise than by reason of redundancy, from any paid employment with a health service body;

(d) he is a person whose tenure of office as the chairman, a member, a director or a governor of a health service body has been terminated on the grounds that—

(i) it was not in the interests of, or conducive to the good management of, the health service body or of the health service that he should continue to hold that office,

(ii) he failed, without reasonable cause, to attend any meeting of that health service body for 3 successive meetings, or

(iii) he failed to declare a pecuniary interest or withdraw from consideration of any matter in respect of which he had a pecuniary interest;

(e) he—

(i) is the subject of a national NHS disqualification,

(ii) was refused nomination or approval to fill a vacancy for a medical practitioner pursuant to regulations made under section 29B(2A) of the Act and was not subsequently nominated or approved or included in a primary care list ,

(iii) has been refused admission to a primary care list on grounds corresponding to the conditions referred to in section 49F(2), (3) or (4) of the Act and has not subsequently been included in a primary care list,

(iv) is conditionally included in a primary care list ,

(v) has been removed from a primary care list on any of the grounds set out in section 49F(2),(3) or (4) of the Act or by a direction of the NHS Tribunal and has not subsequently been included in such a list,

(vi) is contingently removed from a primary care list , or

(vii) is suspended from a primary care list or treated as so suspended by virtue of regulation 6(2) of the Abolition of the National Health Service Tribunal (Consequential Provisions) Regulations 2001 or regulation 6(2) of the Abolition of the National Health Service Tribunal (Consequential Provisions) Regulations 2002,

and in this sub-paragraph any reference to a provision in the Act includes a reference to the provision corresponding to that provision in legislation relating to Scotland and Northern Ireland;

(f) he is subject to a disqualification order under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 , the Companies (Northern Ireland) Order 1986 or to an order made under section 429(2)(b) of the Insolvency Act 1986 (disabilities on revocation of administration order against an individual);

(g) he has been—

(i) removed from the office of charity trustee or trustee for a charity by an order made by the Charity Commissioners or the High Court on the grounds of any misconduct or mismanagement in the administration of the charity for which he was responsible or to which he was privy, or which he, by his conduct, contributed to or facilitated, or

(ii) removed under section 7 of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1990 (powers of Court of Session to deal with management of charities) from being concerned in the management or control of any body;

(h) he is a member of the NHS Pension Scheme unless he is in receipt of benefits under the Scheme and is no longer eligible to contribute to the Scheme.

(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(a), the date of conviction shall be deemed to be the date on which the ordinary period allowed for making an appeal or application with respect to the conviction expires or, if such an appeal or application is made, the date on which the appeal or application is finally disposed of or abandoned or fails by reason of its not being prosecuted.

(3) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(c), a person shall not be treated as having been in paid employment by reason only of his having been the chairman or a non-officer member of, or in the case of an NHS trust, the chairman or a non-executive director of, or in the case of an NHS foundation trust, the chairman, a governor or a non-executive director of, the health service body in question.

Section 4 Cessation of disqualification

(1) Subject to paragraph (3), where a person is disqualified under regulation 3(1)(c) he may, after the expiry of two years beginning on the date on which he was dismissed, apply in writing to the Secretary of State to remove the disqualification, and the Secretary of State may direct that the disqualification shall cease.

(2) Where the Secretary of State refuses an application to remove a disqualification no further application may be made by that person until the expiry of the period of two years beginning with the date of the application and this paragraph shall apply to any subsequent application.

(3) Where a person is disqualified under regulation 3(1)(d), the disqualification shall cease on the expiry of the period of two years beginning on the date of the termination of his tenure of office or such longer period as the Secretary of State specifies when terminating his period of office but the Secretary of State may, on application being made to him by that person, reduce the period of disqualification.

Section 5 Termination of tenure of office of chairman and non-officer members

(1) The chairman or a non-officer member may resign from that office at any time during the term of that office by giving notice in writing to the Secretary of State.

(2) Where the Secretary of State is of the opinion that it is not in the interests of, or conducive to the good management of, the Agency or of the health service that the chairman or non-officer member should continue to hold office, the Secretary of State may forthwith terminate his tenure of office by giving him notice in writing to that effect.

(3) If the chairman or a non-officer member fails to attend three successive meetings of the Agency the Secretary of State shall forthwith terminate that person’s tenure of office unless satisfied that—

(a) the absence was due to a reasonable cause; and

(b) the person in question will be able to attend meetings of the Agency within such a period as the Secretary of State considers reasonable.

(4) Where a person has been appointed to be the chairman or a non-officer member, and—

(a) he becomes disqualified for appointment under regulation 3, he shall notify the Secretary of State in writing of such disqualification; or

(b) it comes to the notice of the Secretary of State that at the time of his appointment or later he was so disqualified, the Secretary of State shall forthwith declare that the person in question was not duly appointed and notify him in writing to that effect,

and upon receipt of any such notification, his tenure of office, if any, shall be terminated and he shall cease to act as chairman or non-officer member.

(5) If it appears to the Secretary of State that the chairman or a non-officer member has failed to comply with regulation 10 (disability on account of pecuniary interest) he may forthwith terminate that person’s tenure of office by giving him notice in writing to that effect.

Section 6 Appointment of vice-chairman

(1) The chairman and members may appoint one of the non-officer members to be vice-chairman for such period, not exceeding the remainder of his term as a member, as they may specify on electing him.

(2) Any member so appointed may at any time resign from the office of vice-chairman by giving notice in writing to the chairman.

(3) Where the chairman has died or has ceased to hold office, or where he is unable to perform his duties as chairman owing to illness, absence or any other cause, references to the chairman in the Schedule to these Regulations shall, so long as there is no chairman available to perform his duties, be taken to include references to the vice-chairman.

Section 7 Appointment of committees and sub-committees

(1) Subject to such directions as may be given by the appropriate authority, the Agency may, and if so directed by the appropriate authority, shall, appoint committees of the Agency consisting wholly or partly of members of the Agency or wholly of persons who are not members of the Agency.

(2) A committee appointed under this regulation may, subject to such directions as may be given by the appropriate authority or the Agency, appoint sub-committees consisting wholly or partly of members of the committee (whether or not they are members of the Agency) or wholly of persons who are not members of the Agency or the committee.

(3) Subject to such directions as may be given by the appropriate authority, regulations 3 and 4 apply to the appointment of members of committees and sub-committees appointed under this regulation as they apply to the appointment of members of the Agency.

Section 8 Arrangements for the exercise of functions

Subject to such directions as may be given by the appropriate authority, the Agency may make arrangements for the exercise, on behalf of the Agency, of any of its functions by a committee or sub-committee appointed by virtue of regulation 7 or by an officer of the Agency, in each case subject to such restrictions and conditions as the Agency thinks fit.

Section 9 Meetings and proceedings

(1) The meetings and proceedings of the Agency shall be conducted in accordance with the rules set out in the Schedule to these Regulations and with Standing Orders made under paragraph (2).

(2) Subject to those rules, to regulation 10 (disability of chairman and members in proceedings on account of pecuniary interest) and to such directions as may be given by the appropriate authority, the Agency shall make, and may vary or revoke, Standing Orders for the regulation of its proceedings and business, including provision for the suspension of all or any of the Standing Orders.

(3) Subject to such directions as may be given by the appropriate authority, the Agency may make, vary and revoke Standing Orders relating to the quorum, proceedings and place of meeting of any committee or sub-committee of the Agency; but subject to such Standing Orders, the quorum, proceedings and place of meeting shall be such as the committee or sub-committee may determine.

Section 10 Disability of chairman and members in proceedings on account of pecuniary interest

(1) Subject to the following provisions of this regulation, if the chairman or a member has any pecuniary interest, direct or indirect, in any contract, proposed contract or other matter and is present at any meeting of the Agency to which the contract, proposed contract or other matter is the subject of consideration, he shall at the meeting and as soon as practicable after its commencement, disclose his interest and shall not take part in the consideration or discussion of the contract, proposed contract or other matter or vote on any question with respect to it.

(2) The appropriate authority may, subject to such conditions as the appropriate authority may think fit to impose, remove any disability imposed by this regulation in any case in which it appears to the appropriate authority to be in the interests of the health service that the disability should be removed.

(3) The Agency may, by Standing Orders made under regulation 9(2), provide for the exclusion of the chairman or a member from a meeting of the Agency while any contract, proposed contract or other matter in which he has a pecuniary interest, direct or indirect, is under consideration.

(4) Any remuneration, compensation or allowances payable to the chairman or a member by virtue of paragraph 9 to Schedule 5 of the Act (pay and allowances) shall not be treated as a pecuniary interest for the purpose of this regulation.

(5) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (6), the chairman or member shall be treated for the purpose of this regulation as having an indirect pecuniary interest in a contract, proposed contract or other matter if—

(a) he, or a nominee of his, is a director of a company or other body, not being a public body, with which the contract was made or is proposed to be made or which has a direct pecuniary interest in the other matter under consideration; or

(b) he is a partner of, or is in the employment of, a person with whom the contract was made or is proposed to be made or who has a direct pecuniary interest in the other matter under consideration,

and in the case of two persons living together as a couple (whether married or not) the interest of one shall, if known to the other, be deemed for the purpose of this regulation to be also an interest of the other.

(6) Neither the chairman nor a member shall be treated as having a pecuniary interest in any contract, proposed contract or other matter by reason only—

(a) of his membership of a company or other body if he has no beneficial interest in any securities of that company or other body; or

(b) of an interest in any company, body or person with which he is connected as mentioned in paragraph (5) which is so remote or insignificant that it cannot reasonably be regarded as likely to influence him in the consideration or discussion of, or voting on, any question with respect to that contract, proposed contract or other matter.

(7) Where the chairman or a member—

(a) has an indirect pecuniary interest in a contract, proposed contract or other matter by reason only of beneficial interest in securities of a company or other body; and

(b) the total nominal value of those securities does not exceed £5,000 or one-hundredth of the total nominal value of the issued share capital of the company or body, whichever is the lesser; and

(c) if the share capital is of more than one class, the total nominal value of shares of any one class in which he has a beneficial interest does not exceed one-hundredth of the total issued share capital of that class,

this regulation shall not prohibit him from taking part in the consideration or discussion of the contract, proposed contract or other matter, or from voting on any question with respect to it without prejudice however to his duty to disclose his interest.

(8) This regulation applies to a committee or sub-committee as it applies to the Agency and applies to a member of any such committee or sub-committee (whether or not he is also a member of the Agency) as it applies to a member of the Agency.

(9) In this regulation—

“public body” includes—

any body established for the purpose of carrying on, under national ownership, any industry or undertaking or part of any industry or undertaking;

the governing body of any university, university college or college school or hall of a university; and

the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty incorporated by the National Trust Act 1907 ;

“securities” means—

shares or debentures, whether or not constituting a charge on the assets of a company or other body, or rights or interests in any share or such debenture; or

rights (whether actual or contingent) in respect of money lent to, or deposited with, any industrial or provident society or building society;

“shares” means shares in the share capital of a company or other body or the stock of a company or other body.

Section 11 Reports by the Agency

The Agency shall make such reports to the appropriate authority in such manner and at such time as the appropriate authority may direct, and shall furnish to the appropriate authority such information as the appropriate authority may from time to time require.

Section 12 Public meeting

If, under regulation 11, the appropriate authority directs the Agency to make an annual report to the appropriate authority for any particular year or for each year, the Agency shall present the report at a public meeting held not later than 30 days after the date on which the report was made.

Section 1

The first meeting of the Agency shall be held on such day and at such place as may be fixed by the chairman, and he shall be responsible for convening the meeting.

Section 2

(1) The chairman may call a meeting of the Agency at any time.

(2) If a requisition for a meeting, signed by at least one third of the total number of members, is presented to the chairman, and the chairman either—

(a) refuses to call a meeting; or

(b) without so refusing, does not within 21 days after the requisition has been presented to him call a meeting,

those members may forthwith call a meeting.

(3) Before each meeting of the Agency, a notice of the meeting which —

(a) specifies the principal business proposed to be transacted at it; and

(b) is signed by the chairman or by an officer of the Agency authorised by the chairman to sign on his behalf,

shall be delivered to each member, or sent by post to his last known address, at least seven clear days before the day of the meeting.

(4) The proceedings of any meeting shall not be invalidated by a failure to deliver such notice to any member.

(5) In the case of a meeting called under sub-paragraph (2) above by members, the notice shall be signed by those members and no business other than that specified in the notice shall be transacted at the meeting.

Section 3

(1) At any meeting of the Agency the chairman or, in his absence, the vice-chairman (if there is one and he is present) shall preside.

(2) If the chairman and any vice-chairman are absent, such other non-officer member present as the other members present shall choose for the purpose shall preside.

Section 4

Every question at a meeting shall be determined by a majority of votes of the members present and competent to vote on the question and, in the case of an equality of votes, the chairman or, in his absence, the person presiding at the meeting shall have a second or casting vote.

Section 5

(1) Subject to sub-paragraph (2) below, no business shall be transacted at any meeting unless at least a third of the membership (the chairman being included for this purpose in the reckoning) is present.

(2) The chairman and at least two non-officer members shall be present at a meeting of the Agency at which the Chief Executive or any other officer member is appointed.

Section 6

(1) The minutes of the proceedings of a meeting shall be drawn up and shall be signed at the next ensuing meeting by the person presiding at that next meeting.

(2) The names of the members present at a meeting shall be recorded in the minutes.