813 INDEX
LOCAL GOVERNMENT PENSION SCHEME APPEAL
SUPERANNUATION ACT 1972
LOCAL GOVERNMENT PENSION SCHEME REGULATIONS 1997 (the 1997 regulations)
1. I refer to your letter of 10 July 2000 in which you appeal on behalf of Mrs B XXX (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 for the XXX Pension Fund, in relation to your local government pension scheme (LGPS) dispute with XXX Council (the council).
2. The disagreement you referred to the Appointed Person is whether the council failed to provide Mrs XXX entry to the LGPS when she became entitled to join and allegedly requested to do so.
3. Under the 1997 regulations a person has 6 months from when a decision is taken to refer the matter to the Appointed Person, or such further period as the Appointed Person considers appropriate. The Secretary of State considers you had six months from when the dispute arose to make an appeal to the Appointed Person. He notes that your appeal to the Appointed Person was past the statutory time limit, but no evidence has been provided to explain why the disagreement was not referred earlier nor has the Appointed Person explained why he considered it reasonable to accept your disagreement outside the six month period. However, the Appointed Person did consider and decide the disagreement you referred to him and found “Having now received all the relevant information I am now able to reach a decision on this case. Mrs XXX employers have provided ample evidence of their having alerted Mrs XXX on more than one occasion from March, 1986 onwards about her right to join the Local Government Pension Scheme. I have no evidence to support your assertion that an election to join was made in 1990 but not passed through to the Pension Office. Therefore my decision is to refuse your application.”
4. The Secretary of State takes the view that Mrs XXX would appear to have a disagreement which first arose during 1990. You state that at that the time she made an application to join the LGPS, but following that application to join the LGPS, noticed that no deductions were being taken from her salary. He notes that, when a person considers they have a claim or grievance, the law requires them to pursue it with reasonable diligence. The Secretary of State notes that no evidence has been submitted to him to show that Mrs XXX, or a representative on her behalf, registered a dispute or questioned the facts that she had not been admitted to the LGPS and no contributions were being deducted from her salary from that point in time. Further, he notes that the council wrote to Mrs XXX in 1995 informing her of her automatic membership to the LGPS from 2 May 1995, and the letter clearly states that the employee in receipt of the letter is not a member of the LGPS. No evidence has been submitted to the Secretary of State to show that Mrs XXX, or her representative, registered a dispute or questioned the decision at that time. It appears from the evidence available that it was not until 24 November 1999 that you referred the matter to the Appointed Person. The Secretary of State has not been provided with an explanation to satisfy him as to why you could not have pursued any such claim before 2 November 1995. He therefore concludes that you have not pursued you claim with reasonable diligence and it cannot be taken to be a dispute which he can consider on appeal.
5. The Pension Advisory Service (OPAS) is available to assist members and beneficiaries in connection with difficulties they have failed to resolve. Their address is 11 Belgrave Road, London, SW1V 1RB (telephone number 020 7233 8080).
6. The Pensions Ombudsman may investigate and determine any allegation of maladministration or any dispute of fact or law in relation to the LGPS made or referred in accordance with the Pension Schemes Act 1993. His address is 11 Belgrave Road, London, SW1V 1RB (telephone 020 7834 9144).