S.I. 2008/238: memorandum from the Department for Communities and Local Government

Local Government Pension Scheme (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2008 (S.I. 2008/238)

This memorandum contains the Department for Communities and Local Government's response to the request from the Joint Committee's Clerk of 12th March 2008 relating to the following point raised by the Joint Committee—

Q1.  In regulation 9(3), should "that if the table applied" read "than if the 2007 table applied"?

Yes. This is a typographical error.

Q2.  Explain the intended meaning of paragraph 2(b) of Schedule 2.

What the provision is intended to achieve is protection of accrued membership up to 31st March 2008 but only for those members ultimately covered by the rule of 85 protection who were active members immediately before 1 April 2008. The Department accepts that the provision as drafted imperfectly achieves this.

Q3.  In paragraph 6(3) of Schedule 2, should the reference to paragraph 3(1)(c) be to paragraph 3(1)(b)? Does paragraph 6(3) add anything to what is said in paragraph 3(2)?

The Committee is correct: the reference should have been to paragraph 3(1)(b).

As to the second point, the Department considers that paragraph 6(3) does add something: paragraph 3(2) is about membership before 2008, while paragraph 6(3) is intended to provide that membership awarded under the 2008 regime cannot alter the earliest date by which the rule of 85 is satisfied.

Q4.  Explain (by reference to an actual or hypothetical example) how a person can fall within paragraph 7(1) of Schedule 2 and in particular what is intended by the phrase "(but for the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2)".

The intention of the provision in paragraph 7 is to ensure that a member whose 60th birthday falls after 1st April 2016 and before 1st April 2020, and who satisfies the requirements set out in paragraph 3, should not suffer the full actuarial reduction that would otherwise apply as a result of paragraphs 1 and 2. The intended effect is that, in such a case, the actuarial reduction factor will be phased in over the four year period. This phased introduction of the actuarial reduction was introduced initially in response to stakeholders` (employers and trades unions) requests that the sudden move from no reduction to full reduction between 31st March 2016 and 1st April 2016 would not have been equitable.

The Department accepts that paragraph 7(1) might have been clearer had it referred to disapplying the actuarial reduction that would otherwise apply, rather than to "satisfying the 85 year rule".

The Department regrets these errors, and undertakes to remedy them at the earliest opportunity. It is also aware that there are now a number of sets of Regulations creating the new Local Government Pension Scheme, which it intends to consolidate when resources allow.

Department for Communities and Local Government

17 March 2008