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18 April 2000 725 INDEX |
APPEAL TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE
SUPERANNUATION ACT 1972
LOCAL GOVERNMENT (DISCRETIONARY PAYMENTS) REGULATIONS 1996 (the 1996 regulations)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT PENSION SCHEME REGULATIONS 1997 (the 1997 regulations)
1) I refer to your letter of 16 February 2000 in which you appeal to the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions against the decision of Mr XXX, the Appointed Person for XXX Council. The disagreement you referred to the Appointed Person concerned the level of the award of enhancement of pension benefits.
2) The Secretary of State has no powers to consider your disagreement on appeal. This letter explains why.
3) The Appointed Person considered four questions which he listed in the attachment to his letter of 18 November 1999 as-
The Link with the Personnel Services Restructure of April 1998;
The Second Ground Relates to the Alleged Breach of a Collective Agreement;
Failure to Notify of the Local Government Pension Scheme Changes; and
The Letter of Termination of Employment with the County Council on the Grounds of Redundancy.
Mr XXX rejected the first three questions of appeal and dismissed the fourth question of appeal.
4) The Appointed Person was asked to provide copies of all the papers he considered. Because it was not clear from these papers the precise nature of the award the council were asked to provide details of the powers under which they had made the award. In their reply they explain you had been awarded a period of added service under the Local Government (Discretionary Payments) Regulations 1996 (a copy of their letter of 31 March 2000 is attached).
5) It appears that your disagreement is about the level of award of a credited period under regulation 8 of the 1996 regulations (referred to by the council as a period of added service). This regulation gives local authorities discretionary powers to award a credited period of up to 10 years (although this is dependent of a number of factors and in many cases the maximum permitted award will be less) where an employee is made redundant. Whether a local authority makes such an award is at their discretion, as is the level although they cannot award a level higher than the maximum permitted in the individual case.
6) The Secretary of State’s powers under regulations 102 and 103 of the 1997 regulations are to reconsider disagreements referred to the Appointed Person under regulation 100. This regulation refers to a matter relating to the local government pension scheme (LGPS), which effectively means whether the statutory provisions governing the LGPS have been correctly applied in the circumstances. The powers to grant an award of a credited period are not within the statutory provisions governing the LGPS but in the 1996 regulations. These regulations contain no appeal provision. Although an award of a credited period is calculated in the same way as a LGPS pension, it does not increase it membership of the LGPS; nor is the resulting compensation payment funded from the pension fund.
7) The view is also taken that the Appointed Person has no formal powers under regulation 100 of the 1997 regulations to consider disagreements in relation to the 1996 regulations. However, the Secretary of State considers it good practice that where there is such a disagreement this is looked at independently by a senior officer of the council who was not involved in the original decision. It is noted that Mr XXX, Chief Solicitor of the council, has considered the matter and given a detailed reply. The Secretary of State’s powers in regulations 102/103 of the 1997 regulations does not therefore apply to your disagreement and there is no separate right of appeal to the Secretary of State in the 1996 regulations.
8) The Pensions Ombudsman may investigate and determine any complaint of maladministration or any dispute of fact or law made or referred in accordance with the Pension Schemes Act 1993. His address is 11 Belgrave Road, London, SW1V 1RB (telephone number 020 7834 9144).