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Parliamentary Pensions etc. Act 1984

Current text a fecha 2011-04-22

Parliamentary pensions: contributions, calculation and entitlement

Increase of rate of contributions from Members and calculation of their pensions

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Increase of rate of contributions from office-holders and calculation of their pensions

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(3AA) For the purposes of subsections (2) and (3) of this section, the appropriate percentage, in relation to a payment of salary made for any period or part of a period, is— (a) in the case of a period or part of a period beginning before 1st August 1984, five per cent.; (b) in the case of a period or part of a period beginning on or after 1st August 1984 and before 1st January 1985, six per cent.; (c) in the case of a period or part of a period beginning on or after 1st January 1985 and before 1st January 1986, seven per cent.; (d) in the case of a period or part of a period beginning on or after 1st January 1986 and before 1st January 1987, eight per cent.; and (e) in the case of a period or part of a period beginning on or after 1st January 1987, nine per cent

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(b) an amount equal, subject to subsection (2A) of this section, to the aggregate amount which fell to be deducted under section 3(1) of this Act from the payments of salary made in respect of that year to any person who was a Member of the House of Commons throughout that year,

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(2A) For the purposes of subsection (2)(b) of this section the appropriate percentage for the purposes of section 3(2) of this Act shall be deemed, in relation to any payment of salary made to a Member of the House of Commons in respect of any period beginning before 1st August 1984, to have been five per cent.

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(3A) In subsection (3) of this section ' the appropriate fraction' means— (a) in relation to the year beginning with 1st April 1984 and subsequent years, one-fiftieth ; (b) in relation to the year beginning with 1st April 1982 and previous years, one-sixtieth; and (c) in relation to the year beginning with 1st April 1983.— (i) in the case of a person who held a qualifying office at some time in the period beginning with 1st April 1983 and ending with 19th July 1983 but did not hold such an office at any time in the period beginning with 20th July and ending with 31st March 1984, one-sixtieth; (ii) in the case of a person who did not hold such an office at any time in the first of those periods but did hold such an office at some time in the second of those periods, one-fiftieth; and (iii) in the case of a person who held such an office at some time in each of those periods, nineteen-thousandths. (3B) The annual amount of the pension payable to a person under section 9 of this Act shall not exceed the amount equal to two-thirds of the product of— (a) the relevant terminal salary, and (b) the average of all the contribution factors calculated in relation to that person under subsection (2) of this section, except to the extent that the said annual amount is calculated by reference to any years beginning after that person attained the age of sixty-five years; and the said annual amount shall not, in any event, exceed such maximum pension as may for the time being be imposed in relation to that person by an order under subsection (3C) of this section. (3C) The Lord President of the Council may by order made by statutory instrument make provision, in relation to persons to whom pensions are payable under that section, as to the maximum pensions so payable and for the calculation of those maximum pensions in such manner and by reference to such matters as may from time to time be specified in the order; and, without prejudice to the foregoing, such an order may— (a) make different provision for different cases ; (b) require maximum pensions to be calculated by reference to the opinion of the Trustees or require any matter to be established to their satisfaction; and (c) provide for the amount of a maximum pension to be calculated by applying such maximum as may be specified in or determined under the order to a part only of the amount which, apart from the order, would be the annual amount of the pension in question.

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(6A) A statutory instrument containing an order made under subsection (3C) above shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

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Abolition of qualifying period and further provision for refunds on death

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; and (e) he has not become entitled to a pension under this Part of this Act.

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(a) without leaving a widow, widower or relevant child (within the meaning of section 15 of this Act) who is, or may become, entitled in respect of that person to receive a pension under any of sections 13 to 15 of this Act; and

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and

then, if a valid election is made, that pension shall be so payable instead of any pension that by virtue of the preceding provisions of this section or section 8 below would otherwise be payable to that person's widow or widower, or for the benefit of the child or children in question, under any of sections 13 to 15 of the 1972 Act.

Earlier entitlement to pension

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(c) is not or was not a candidate for election to that House at the general election consequent upon the dissolution or was such a candidate but was not elected to that House,

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and a statutory instrument containing an order made under that subsection shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

and the time as from which the condition in paragraph (6) of this subsection is to be treated as fulfilled in respect of any person is the time as from which a pension becomes payable to that person by virtue of the said section 7(4A).".

Supplemental provisions with respect to calculation of pensions etc.

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as a period or year beginning after or ending before such time as may, in relation to that period or year, be specified in or determined under the order ;

and a statutory instrument containing an order made under that subsection shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

Parliamentary pensions: miscellaneous

Maximum lump sum payable by way of commutation of pension

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Widows' pensions: minor amendment

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In the proviso to section 13(4) of the 1972 Act (under which a pension may be paid or restored to a widow who has been cohabiting with another person if the Trustees are satisfied that the cohabitation has ceased and that there are exceptional reasons for the payment of the pension)—

Widowers' pensions

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(13A) (1) Subject to the provisions applied by subsection (2) of this section, the widower of a woman who has died after the passing of the Parliamentary Pensions etc. Act 1984 shall be entitled to receive a pension under this section, whether or not his late wife was entitled at the time of her death to receive a pension under section 7 or section 9 of this Act, if— (a) she had been a Member of the House of Commons at any time after the passing of that Act; or (b) she was a participant under section 2 of this Act in respect of one or more periods of tenure of a qualifying office and had held such an office at any time after the passing of that Act. (2) Subsections (2) to (5) of section 13 of this Act shall apply for the purposes of this section with the necessary modifications.

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(6) This section shall not apply in the case of a widower who is entitled to receive a pension under section 13A of this Act

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Nominations in respect of gratuities payable on death

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In section 16 of the 1972 Act (gratuity on death of Member or office-holder payable to nominated person or personal representatives)—

(1B) The Trustees shall treat a nomination made for the purposes of this section by any person (" the nominator ") as not being in force at the time of the nominator's death— (a) if the individual nominated was the nominator's wife or husband at the time the nomination was made but has subsequently ceased to be the nominator's wife or husband ; or (b) if they are of the opinion that the payment of the gratuity to the individual nominated is not reasonably practicable in all the circumstances. (1C) A nomination for the purposes of this section must be made, and may be revoked, by a notice in writing given to the Trustees; and such a notice must be in such form as the Trustees may require.

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Transfers from other pension schemes

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(a) the calculation under section 10 of this Act of the annual amount of any pension shall be made in respect of that person as if— (i) the number of years for which a contribution credit falls to be calculated under subsection (3) of that section were increased by such number of additional years as may have been determined in relation to those sums by the Trustees, and (ii) the contribution factor for each of those additional years were such amount as may have been so determined, and

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and, accordingly, in subsection (5) of the said section 22 (calculation of matters determined by Trustees), after the word " period ", in each place where it occurs, there shall be inserted the words " or number of years; " .

Pensions under Part II of 1972 Act: refund of added years contributions

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In section 30 of the 1972 Act, after subsection (3) (refund of amounts contributed by a person who subsequently became Prime Minister, Speaker or Lord Chancellor) there shall be inserted the following subsections—

(4) Subject to subsection (5) of this section, any payments made by a contributor (whether before or after the coming into force of this subsection) for the purchase in pursuance of section 11 of the Act of 1978 of additional years of reckonable service shall be treated, for the purposes of subsection (3) of this section, as contributions. (5) Where— (a) by virtue of subsection (4) of this section any part of an amount falling to be reduced under subsection (3) of this section represents a sum paid for the purchase in pursuance of the said section 11 of additional years of reckonable service, and (b) that sum was so paid otherwise than in respect of an obligation that required the making of periodical payments (whether by way of deduction from salary or otherwise) over a period of five years or more, there shall be disregarded, for the purposes of calculating the amount of the reduction to be made under subsection (3) of this section, so much of that part of the amount falling to be reduced as does not represent interest on that sum.

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House of Commons Members’ Fund

Appropriation of funds for alleviation of special hardship

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shall (without prejudice to section 3 of the House of Commons Members’ Fund and Parliamentary Pensions Act 1981 (exclusion of increases in Treasury contributions from appropriation for the alleviation of special hardship)) be exercisable in relation to the whole or any part of those sums and contributions, instead of in relation to not more than one-tenth of them.

Grants to persons ceasing to be office-holders or Representatives to the Assembly of the European Union

Grants to persons ceasing to hold certain Ministerial and other offices

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Grants to persons ceasing to be Representatives to the Assembly of the European Communities

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The European Assembly (Pay and Pensions) Act 1979 shall have effect, and be deemed always to have had effect, with the substitution for section 3 (grants to Representatives losing their seats) of the following sections—

(3) (1) Where a person who is a Representative immediately before the end of any five-year period either— (a) did not stand for election to the Assembly at the general election of representatives to the Assembly held in that period; or (b) did so stand (whether for the same or a different constituency) at that election and was not elected, he shall, unless he attained the age of 65 before the end of that period, be entitled to a resettlement grant calculated in accordance with the followng provisions of this section. (2) Where a person becomes entitled to a grant under this section at the end of any five-year period, its amount shall be equal to the relevant percentage of a year’s salary under section 1 at the rate applicable to him immediately before the end of that period, the relevant percentage for this purpose being that shown in the following Table in relation to his age at the end of that period and the number of years for which he has served as a Representative before the end of that period.

Age Number of years service Number of years service Number of years service Number of years service Number of years service Number of years service Number of years service
Under 10 10 11 12 13 14 15 or over
Under 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50
50 50 50 52 54 56 58 60
51 50 52 55 58 62 65 68
52 50 54 58 63 67 72 76
53 50 56 62 67 73 78 84
54 50 58 65 72 78 85 92
55 or over 50 60 68 76 84 92 100

(3) In calculating for the purposes of subsection (2) the number of years for which a person has served as a Representative before the end of the period in question, there shall be disregarded— (a) any fraction of a year for which he has so served; and (b) if he has become entitled to a grant under this section on any previous occasion, any period of service which for those purposes was on that occasion either taken into account or disregarded under paragraph (a). (4) In relation to the five-year period ending in 1984, subsection (1) shall have effect as if the words ”unless he attained the age of 65 before the end of that period’ were omitted. (5) In this section ”five-year period’ means a period of five years for which representative s have been elected to the Assembly; but if any such period is extended or curtailed, the references in this section to the end of that period shall be construed accordingly. (3A) (1) If it appears to the Secretary of State that the effect, at any time, of section 3 in relation to persons ceasing to be Representatives is not or was not equivalent to the effect, at that time, of the arrangements made pursuant to any resolution or combination of resolutions of the House of Commons for the payment of grants to persons ceasing to be Members on a dissolution of Parliament, he may by order amend that section for the purpose of making its effect in relation to persons ceasing to be Representatives as nearly so equivalent as he considers practicable. (2) An order under this section— (a) may provide for the order to be deemed to have come into force on a date before the date on which it is made, but (b) shall not reduce the amount of, or cancel any entitlement to, any grant under section 3 to which a person has become entitled before the date on which the order is made. (3) The power to amend section 3 conferred by this section includes power to make new provision in place of that section, whether by substituting one or more new sections or otherwise; and references in this section to that section shall accordingly include any provisions for the time being having effect in place of it by virtue of an order under this section.

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General

Financial provisions

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Interpretation

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Short title

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This Act may be cited as the Parliamentary Pensions etc. Act 1984.

SCHEDULE

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SCHEDULE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Editorial notes

[^c765480]: Act wholly in force at Royal Assent.

[^c765481]: Ss. 1–11, 15(2)(a), 16 repealed (with saving) by Parliamentary and other Pensions Act 1987 (c.45, SIF 89), ss. 2, 6, Sch. 2, Sch. 3 para. 1(4), Sch. 4 As saved ss. 3(4)-(6), 4(3)-(6), 5(1)(2), 6 have been revoked (21.1.1994) by S.I. 1993/3253, reg. R5, Sch. 7, Pt.1.

[^c765482]: 1948 c. 36.

[^c765483]: 1957 c. 24.

[^c765484]: 1981 c. 7.

[^c765486]: S. 13 repealed by Ministerial and other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991 (c. 5, SIF 89), s. 4(9) (with saving).

[^c765487]: 1979 c. 50.

[^c765488]: Ss. 1–11, 15(2)(a), 16 repealed (with saving) by Parliamentary and other Pensions Act 1987 (c.45, SIF 89), ss. 2, 6, Sch. 2, Sch. 3 para. 1(4), Sch. 4

[^c765489]: 1979 c. 50.

[^c765490]: Ss. 1–11, 15(2)(a), 16 repealed (with saving) by Parliamentary and other Pensions Act 1987 (c.45, SIF 89), ss. 2, 6, Sch. 2, Sch. 3 para. 1(4), Sch. 4

[^c765491]: Sch. repealed (with saving) by Parliamentary and other Pensions Act 1987 (c.45, SIF 89), ss. 2, 6, Sch. 2, Sch. 3 para. 1(4), Sch. 4

[^key-e84572fb0126da94bba19d7eb04c9530]: Words in Act substituted (22.4.2011) by The Treaty of Lisbon (Changes in Terminology) Order 2011 (S.I. 2011/1043), arts. 2, 3, 4 (with arts. 3(2)(3), 4(2), 6(4)(5))