s 2 Ill-health pensions
(1) A person who because of ill-health— (a) has after the passing of this Act ceased to be a Member of the House of Commons before attaining the age of sixty-five years ; or (b) having been at any time a Member of that House has, after the passing of this Act and while not a Member of that House, ceased to hold a qualifying office before attaining that age, may apply to the Trustees for an early pension under section 7 of the Act of 1972 if at the time when he so ceased (“ the material time”) he would have become entitled to receive a pension under that section but for his not having attained the age of sixty-five years. (2) If on an application under this section the Trustees are satisfied— (a) that the applicant does not intend to seek re-election to the House of Commons or to accept any future offer of a qualifying office ; (b) that his ceasing as mentioned in subsection (1)(a) or (b) above was a direct consequence of his ill-health ; and (c) that his ill-health is such as would prevent him from performing adequately the duties of a Member of the House of Commons, the applicant shall be entitled to receive a pension under section 7 of the Act of 1972 as from the material time. (3) A person who, if he were to cease as mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (1) above at a particular time in the future because of ill-health, would become entitled to make an application under that subsection may make such an application before that time, specifying in it the time when he proposes to so cease ; and where on such an application the Trustees are satisfied that, if the applicant so ceases at the time specified therein, he will be entitled under subsection (2) above to receive a pension under section 7 of the Act of 1972 as from that time, they shall give him notice in writing to that effect. (4) The annual amount of a pension payable under section 7 of the Act of 1972 to a person by virtue of this section shall (subject to sections 11 and 31 of that Act) be calculated in accordance with section 7(3) of that Act; but for the purposes of that calculation his aggregate period of reckonable service as a Member shall, subject to subsection (5) below, be increased by whichever of the following periods applies in his case, namely— (a) if, apart from this subsection, his aggregate period of reckonable service as a Member at the material time was less than ten years, a period equal to that aggregate period ; (b) if, apart from this subsection, his aggregate period of reckonable service as a Member at that time was ten years or more but less than twenty years, a period equal to the difference between that aggregate period and twenty years or a period of six years and eight months, whichever is the longer ; (c) in any other case, a period of six years and eight months. (5) A person’s aggregate period of reckonable service as a Member— (a) shall in no case be increased under subsection (4) above by a period longer than the period between his ceasing as mentioned in subsection (1)(a) or (b) above and the time when he would attain the age of sixty-five years ; an (b) as increased under section (4) above shall in no case exceed forty years. (6) References in subsections (4) and (5) above to a person’s aggregate period of reckonable service as a Member are references to that period as increased by or under any provision of the Act of 1972 or this Act other than subsection (4) above, and include any additional period of reckonable service which, in accordance with any provision made by order under section 11 of this Act, he has undertaken to purchase by way of periodical deductions from salary. (7) In relation to a person who— (a) was a Member of the House of Commons at any time before 1st January 1972 but has not been a Member of that House on or after that date ; and (b) because of ill-health has after the passing of this Act ceased to hold a qualifying office before attaining the age of sixty-five years, subsections (1) to (5) above shall have effect with the following modifications, that is to say— (i) references to section 7 of the Act of 1972 shall be read as references to Part II of the Act of 1965 ; (ii) references to a person’s aggregate period of reckonable service as a Member shall be read as references to the aggregate of his periods of reckonable service within the meaning of the said Part II ; and (iii) in subsection (4), paragraph (a) and the reference to section 11 of the Act of 1972 shall be omitted, and the reference to section 7(3) of that Act shall be read as a reference to section 7(3) of the Act of 1965. (8) For the purposes of this section— (a) a person who has ceased to be a Member of the House of Commons in consequence of the dissolution of Parliament shall be treated as having so ceased because of ill-health if, but only if, he satisfies the Trustees that as a direct consequence of his ill-health he did not seek re-election to that House after the dissolution ; and (b) a person who has, while not a Member of that House, ceased to hold a qualifying office because of the result of a general election consequent upon the dissolution of Parliament shall be treated as having so ceased as a direct consequence of his ill-health if, but only if, he satisfies the Trustees that on the day of the poll in that election his ill-health was such as would prevent him from performing adequately the duties of a Member of the House of Commons.