Explanatory note

These Regulations are concerned principally with employees of public transport and airport companies formed under the Transport Act 1985 and the Airports Act 1986, with gratuities, and with employees who work less than a full week or year.

Regulation 2 is a transitory provision enabling a passenger transport authority or principal council to resolve that former employees who have become employees of a public airport company are to be deemed still to be employed by them for the purposes of the Local Government Superannuation Regulations 1986 (“the principal Regulations”). Regulation 5(c) to (f) makes related amendments to the principal Regulations which secure that the employees remain pensionable employees while employed by, or by a subsidiary of, that or another public airport company, unless they become admitted employees by virtue of an admission agreement under regulation B3 of the principal Regulations. Regulation 3 of these Regulations provides that a resolution under regulation 2, or under an earlier similar provision relating to public transport company employees, ceases to have effect in relation to employees who become admitted employees.

Regulation 18 provides that where an admission agreement has been made with a public transport or airport company, or after 31st March 1987 with any other body, so much of any pensions increase (under the Pensions (Increase) Act 1971) as is attributable to a person’s service with the body as an admitted employee is to be paid out of the superannuation fund, and provides for a related increase in the employer’s contributions payable by the body. These provisions are made by virtue of section 7(3) of the Superannuation Act 1972, and accordingly provisions of the Pensions (Increase) Act 1971, and of regulations made under section 5 of that Act, relating to liability for the cost of increases have effect subject to them.

Regulation 17 empowers an authority administering a superannuation fund to establish further funds. Where they do so, the further fund becomes the appropriate fund for employees of specified admitted bodies (regulations 6(a) and 7).

Regulation 16 substitutes a new Part for Part K of the principal Regulations (gratuities). New regulations K2 and K3 set out the cases in which a gratuity may be granted and the forms it may take. Entitlement to superannuation benefits will no longer be a bar in all cases. New regulation K4, with the definitions in new regulation K1, fixes the maximum amounts. New regulation K5 provides that the cost of gratuities is not to be met out of superannuation funds, and new regulation K6 provides for the modified application of Part K in relation to certain bodies and for its application to non-teaching staff in maintained schools.

Regulation 23 retrospectively modifies earlier gratuity provisions so as to authorise, and in some circumstances to require, payment of a gratuity notwithstanding that the former employee was entitled to superannuation benefits in respect of part of his service.

Regulation 20 inserts into Schedule 2 to the principal Regulations a new Part IV. Paragraphs 1 to 4 of this, with related provisions in regulations 4(a), (b), (c), (e) and (f), 5(a) and (b), 6(b), 8, 11, 13, 19(b), 21(b), 24 and 25(3) make provision for part-time employees to elect to be pensionable employees. The basic qualification for making an election is that the employee has a contractual obligation to work at least 15 hours a week for at least 35 weeks a year. In some circumstances part-time employees remain or become pensionable without an election, and elections to cease to be pensionable may be made in certain cases.

The new Part IV of Schedule 2 also provides (in paragraph 5) that a whole-time employee with an obligation to work fewer than 45 weeks a year is pensionable only if his employing authority has so decided in the past or if he elects to be pensionable.

Regulation 4(d) makes certain office-holders (justices' clerks outside inner London and registration officers) pensionable employees. Regulation 9 amends regulation C7 of the principal Regulations so as to allow them to pay for a past period in office to become reckonable service under regulation D9 of the principal Regulations, which is consequentially amended by regulation 12 of these Regulations.

For employees working less than 45 weeks a year and for registration officers, service is adjusted for benefit purposes by regulation E25(3) to (6) of the principal Regulations, inserted by regulation 15 of these Regulations.

The remaining provisions of these Regulations deal with miscellaneous matters. Regulation 4(g) and (h) allows manual workers who had elected not to be pensionable to elect to be so. Regulations 10 and 22 remedy, with retrospective effect, an anomaly which has prevented the return of contributions, on cessation of employment, to persons whose continuing employment had ceased to be pensionable. Regulation 14 clarifies provisions relating to death grants, and regulation 21(a) supplies a missing figure. Regulation 25(1) and (2) validates actions taken in anticipation of regulations 2 and 17.

Section 12 of the Superannuation Act 1972 confers express power to make regulations retrospective in effect. These Regulations are to a certain extent retrospective, but rights in relation to former employees are not adversely affected.