{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/overseas-service-pensions-supplement-regulations-1995/note",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/overseas-service-pensions-supplement-regulations-1995/note.json",
  "legislation": "uksi/1995/238",
  "legislation_title": "The Overseas Service (Pensions Supplement) Regulations 1995",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/overseas-service-pensions-supplement-regulations-1995",
  "path": "note",
  "kind": "note",
  "number": null,
  "heading": "Explanatory note",
  "text": "(This note is not part of the Regulations)\nThese Regulations, which provide for payment of supplements on pensions paid to or in respect of certain officers who have served governments, authorities or institutions of overseas territories, consolidate and replace the Overseas Service (Pensions Supplement) Regulations 1977 as amended. They reproduce the substantive effect of the previous Regulations, subject to minor amendments, but the layout and drafting of the Regulations has been extensively revised.\nPart I of the Pensions (Increase) Act 1971 (“the Act”) provides for inflation-proofing increases of official pensions, that is pensions of persons in public service in the United Kingdom and their dependants. Sections 11, 11A and 12 of that Act enable the Secretary of State to make regulations authorising the payment by the Secretary of State of inflation-proofing supplement of pensions of certain officers who have served the governments or other authorities or institutions of overseas territories and pensions of dependants of such officers. These supplements should be of amounts which, when account is taken of other additions to the value of the pensions and other pensions in respect of the same service, appear to the Secretary of State to correspond as nearly as may be with the increases paid under Part I of the Act on official pensions. These Regulations are made in exercise of these powers.\nPart II of the Regulations sets out the general scheme for payment of supplement.\nRegulation 3 authorises the Secretary of State to pay supplement and defines the pensions in respect of which it may be paid, namely all pensions to which sections 11, 11A and 12 of the Act apply, subject to certain exceptions. The exception for certain Hong Kong pensions is new, as payment of such pensions was only authorised by a change of Hong Kong legislation in 1993. There is also a general new exception for all pensions created by a change of law after the Regulations come into force. For certain categories of derivative (dependants') pensions application of section 11 or 12 is conditional upon the instruments providing for them being approved by the Secretary of State, and regulation 3(3) as read with Schedule 1 gives the approvals required.\nRegulation 4 regulates the amount of supplement. An amount (“the addition”) is to be calculated, corresponding to the increases on official pensions of civil servants under Part I of the Act. It is calculated by applying to the pension the provisions of Part I of the Act subject to modifications. From this addition is to be deducted the total overseas increase—the sum of the overseas increases, that is additions to the amount of the pension other than supplement under these Regulations. The net amount will be the supplement payable. In accordance with Regulation 4(2) and Schedule 2, where a person receives more than one pension, the supplement on each pension will be adjusted so that the total amount of supplement on the pensions does not exceed the supplement on a single pension of like amount.\nRegulation 5 makes particular provisions for calculation of supplement where the United Kingdom Government has taken over responsibility for payment of the pension.\nRegulation 6 provides for calculation of the “increasable rate” of the pension—the basic rate in respect of which supplement will be calculated.\nPart III of the Regulations sets out the detailed rules for calculation of the addition.\nChapter I of Part III makes general provisions applicable to all pensions. Regulation 7 provides that the amount of the addition is to be the amount of the increase which would be payable under Part I of the Act if the pension were an official pension and had begun at a certain date. However, Part I of the Act is applied for this purpose subject to numerous adaptations. Regulation 8 provides the dates when pensions are deemed to begin for this purpose. These dates are designed to ensure the pension is fully inflation-proofed and in many cases are earlier than the date when the pension actually became payable.\nChapter II of Part III, with Schedule 4, makes provision for adaptations of the application of Part I of the Act specifically in relation to earnings-related pensions, that is pensions of officers or their dependants which are calculated by reference to the officer’s earnings.\nChapter III of Part III, with Schedules 5 and 6, makes provision for adaptations of the application of Part I of the Act specifically in relation to contributory derivative pensions, that is dependants' pensions calculated by reference to the officer’s contributions and age. In particular, since these pensions are based on contributions over a period of years, the calculation of addition is adjusted accordingly. In this calculation the pension so far as based on earlier contributions will qualify for higher increases than the pension so far as based on later contributions. A significant change compared to previous Regulations is that in these calculations all periods will be reckoned to the nearest day, instead of the nearest year.\nPart IV of the Regulations provides for the calculation of total overseas increase. In terms of regulation 18 it is the sum of the individual overseas increases. Regulation 19, supplemented by regulation 20, defines what are overseas increases and provides for their calculation.\nPart V of the Regulations makes miscellaneous and supplementary provision.\nRegulation 21 makes new provision for the calculation of supplement on pensions of dependants of certain officers who served in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.\nRegulation 22 with Schedule 7 makes provision for the conversion of pensions and overseas increases from overseas currencies to sterling.\nRegulation 23 provides for application for supplement. Regulation 24 provides for revision of supplement to reflect revision of overseas increases. It also authorises recovery of overpayments by set-off. Regulation 25 with Schedule 8 provides for revocation of the previous regulations. Regulation 26 makes saving provision to safeguard existing recipients of supplement from worsenment, and also makes transitional provision for payments of supplement outstanding when the Regulations come into force.\nCopies of documents referred to in the Regulations which are not United Kingdom Acts or statutory instruments are available, wherever practicable, from the Overseas Pensions Department, Overseas Development Administration, Abercrombie House, Eaglesham Road, East Kilbride, Glasgow G75 8EA.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1995/238/note",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T13:17:31.291771+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}