531          INDEX                                                                                                                   Our Ref: LGR 85/18/144

19 March 1999

 

LOCAL GOVERNMENT PENSION APPEAL

 

SUPERANNUATION ACT 1972

LOCAL GOVERNMENT PENSION SCHEME REGULATIONS 1995 (the 1995 regulations)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT PENSION SCHEME REGULATIONS 1997 (the 1997 regulations)

 

 

1.                  I refer to your letter of 6 January 1999 in which you appeal (under regulation 102 of the 1997 regulations) to the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions against the decision of Mr XXX, the Appointed Person.

2.                  The Appointed Person upheld the decision of XXX Council (the council) not to issue you with a certificate of material reduction.  You maintain that your transfer to a lower salary scale and consequent freezing of your salary will affect the level of your eventual local government pension scheme (LGPS) benefit payments.

3.                  The question for decision: The question for decision by the Secretary of State is whether you are entitled to a certificate of material reduction.

4.                  The Secretary of State has considered all the representations and evidence.  Copies of all the documents supplied by the Appointed Person have been sent to you under cover of the department’s letter of 2 February 1999.

5.                  Secretary of State’s decision: The Secretary of State has taken into account the appropriate regulations.  He finds that you are not entitled to a certificate of material reduction.  His decision confirms that made by the Appointed Person.  The Secretary of State’s reasons and the regulationswhich he considers apply in yourcase are set out in the annex to this letter, which forms an integral part of this decision.  He is acting judicially and has no power to modify the way the regulationsapply to the facts of the case.  Having made his decision he has no power to alter it but you may refer the matter to the Pensions Ombudsman or to the High Court.  Because of this the Secretary of State’s officials cannot discuss the case further.

6.                  This completes the second stage of the internal dispute resolution procedure.  The Pensions Advisory Service (OPAS) is available to assist members and beneficiaries in connection with difficulties which they have failed to resolve.  Their address is 11 Belgrave Road, London, SW1V 1RB (telephone number 0171 233 8080).

7.                  The Pensions Ombudsman may investigate and determine any complaint or dispute of fact or law in relation to the LGPS made or referred in accordance with the Pensions Schemes Act 1993.  His address is 11 Belgrave Road, London, SW1V 1RB (telephone number 0171 834 9144).