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Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland


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STATUTORY RULES OF NORTHERN IRELAND


2006 No. 6

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Local Government Pension Scheme (Civil Partnership) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006

  Made 13th January 2006 
  Coming into operation 10th February 2006 

The Department of the Environment makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by Article 9 and 14 of, and Schedule 3 to, the Superannuation (Northern Ireland) Order 1972[1] and now vested in it[2].

     In accordance with Article 9 of that Order the Department has consulted with the Northern Ireland Local Government Association, the Northern Ireland Local Government Officers' Superannuation Committee and representatives of those whom the Department considers to be likely to be affected by the Regulations:

Citation, commencement and retrospection
     1. —(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Local Government Pension Scheme (Civil Partnerships) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 and shall come into operation in accordance with paragraphs (2) and (3).

    (2) These Regulations shall come into operation on 10th February 2006 and subject to paragraph (3) shall have effect as from 5th December 2005.

    (3) Regulation 3 shall have effect as from 1st February 2003.

The Local Government (Discretionary Payments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001
    
2. —(1) The Local Government (Discretionary Payments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001[3] shall be amended in accordance with paragraph (2).

    (2) In regulation 36 (death benefits) for paragraph (1)(b)(i) there shall be substituted—

Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002
     3. —(1) The Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002[4] shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (21).

    (2) In regulation 18(2)(b) (general qualification for benefits) after the words "surviving spouse's" there shall be inserted "or civil partner's".

    (3) In regulation 22(4) (final pay) after the words "surviving spouse's" there shall be inserted ", civil partner's".

    (4) In regulation 36(1) (surrenders of pension) after the word "spouse" there shall be inserted ", civil partner".

    (5) For regulation 42(1) to (3) (surviving spouse's short-term pension) there shall be substituted—

    (6) For regulation 43(1) (surviving spouse's long-term pension) there shall be substituted—

    (7) After regulation 44 (reduction of some surviving spouses' pensions) there shall be inserted—

    (8) For regulation 45(1) (surviving spouse's guaranteed minimum pension) there shall be substituted—

    (9) In regulation 47 (children's short-term pensions)—

    (10) In regulation 48 (children's long-term pensions)—

    (11) In regulation 51 (commutation: small pensions)—

    (12) In regulation 89(2) (exclusion of rights to return of contributions) after the word "spouse" there shall be inserted ", civil partner".

    (13) In regulation 95(8) (interest on late payment of certain benefits) after the words "surviving spouse" there shall be inserted ", civil partner".

    (14) In regulation 102(2)(a) (right to apply for an appointed person to review a decision) after the words "or surviving" there shall be inserted "civil partner or".

    (15) In regulation 117(1) (protection of GMP rights) for the words "or widower's" there shall be substituted ", widower's or surviving civil partner's".

    (16) In regulation 118(5)(b) (transfer of sums from the fund to compensate for former member's misconduct) after the word "spouse" there shall be inserted ", civil partner".

    (17) In regulation 121(5)(a) (contracting-out requirements affecting transfers out) after the words "surviving spouse's" there shall be inserted "or civil partner's".

    (18) In regulation 127(2)(c) (rights as to service not matched by credited period) after the words "surviving spouse's" there shall be inserted "or civil partner's".

    (19) In regulation 128(1) (community scheme transferees) after the words "surviving spouses" there shall be inserted ", civil partner".

    (20) In Schedule 1 (interpretation) in the definition of "guaranteed minimum pension" for the words "widows and widowers" there shall be substituted "widows, widowers and surviving civil partner".

    (21) In Schedule 4 (revenue restrictions)—

Local Government Pension Scheme (Amendment No. 2 and Transitional Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002
    
4. —(1) The Local Government Pension Scheme (Amendment No. 2 and Transitional Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002[5] shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) and (3).

    (2) After regulation 4 (deferred members and pensioners: general) there shall be inserted—

    (3) In regulation 18(1) (community scheme transferees) after the words "surviving spouses" there shall be inserted ", civil partner".

The Local Government (Early Termination of Employment) (Discretionary Compensation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003
    
5. —(1) The Local Government (Early Termination of Employment) (Discretionary Compensation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003[6] shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (7).

    (2) For the heading to Part VIII there shall be substituted—



    (3) In regulation 19(4) after the word "spouse" there shall be inserted ", civil partner".

    (4) For regulation 20 (awards to surviving spouses) there shall be substituted—

    (5) For regulation 21 (amount of surviving spouse's short-term and long-term compensation) there shall be substituted—

    (6) In regulation 22(3) (short-term compensation for children) after the words "surviving spouse" there shall be inserted "or civil partner".

    (7) In Schedule 1 (interpretation)—



Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of the Environment on


13th January 2006

L.S.


J Ritchie
A senior officer of the Department of the Environment


EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)


The amendments in these Regulations provide survivor benefits for same sex partners of Local Government Pension Scheme members or eligible persons where the same sex partners have registered a civil partnership under the terms of the Civil Partnership Act 2004.

Article 14 of the Superannuation (Northern Ireland) Order 1972 confers express powers to make regulations retrospective in effect. These Regulations are retrospective, however, no one will be adversely affected by the retrospection.

The Regulations amend the following statutory rules—

    (1) The Local Government (Discretionary Payments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001 are amended by regulation 2, which has retrospective effect from 5th December 2005 ("Discretionary Payments Regulations");

    (2) Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002 are amended by regulation 3, which has retrospective effect from 1st February 2003 ("the 2002 Regulations");

    (3) Local Government Pension Scheme (Amendment No. 2 and Transitional Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002 are amended by regulation 4, which has retrospective effect from 5th December 2005 ("Transitional Provisions Regulations");

    (4) The Local Government (Early Termination of Employment) (Discretionary Compensation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 are amended by regulation 5, which has retrospective effect from 5th December 2005 ("the 2003 Regulations").

The changes to the Discretionary Payments Regulations and the 2003 Regulations provide that surviving civil partners will qualify for survivor benefits in the same way as spouses where a person ceases employment after 5th April 1988 and subsequently dies.

The changes to the 2002 Regulations and the Transitional Provisions Regulations are as follows—

In addition the changes to the Transitional Provisions Regulations, are necessary to apply the provisions to deferred or pensioner members who enter into a civil partnership having ceased employment before these Regulations come into force.

Some bodies within the business, charity and voluntary sectors are employers within the Local Government Pension Scheme. There will be costs in public service pension schemes from extending survivor benefits to include civil partners. A Regulatory Impact Assessment was published alongside the Civil Partnership Act 2004, which assesses the impact of the Act on the business, charity and voluntary sectors, and outlines the cost implications to public service pension schemes. Accordingly, a separate Regulatory Impact Assessment was not produced for these Regulations. The final Regulatory Impact Assessment for the Civil Partnership Act 2004 has been placed in the library of each House of Parliament and can be viewed at
http://www.dti.gov.uk/access/ria/index.html#equality.


Notes:

[1] S.I. 1972/1073 (N.I. 10)back

[2] S.R. & O (N.I.) 1973 No 504 Article 7 (1); S.I. 1976/424 (N.I. 6)back

[3] S.R. 2001 No. 279 to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulationsback

[4] S.R. 2002 No. 352 to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulationsback

[5] S.R. 2002 No. 353back

[6] S.R. 2003 No. 61back



ISBN 0 337 96317 7


 © Crown copyright 2006

Prepared 25 January 2006


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