S.C.B.
Amendment Paper as at
Tuesday 24th February 2004
STANDING COMMITTEE B
ARMED FORCES (PENSIONS AND COMPENSATION) BILL
Mr Gerald Howarth
Hugh Robertson
15
Clause 5, page 2, line 42, at end add—
'(2) The Secretary of State shall reimburse a claimant for his reasonable expenses in taking his case to appeal under this section.'.
Mr Gerald Howarth
Mr Julian Brazier
16
Schedule 1, page 5, line 5, at end insert—
| '( ) | (1) | Section 1 (Appeals against rejection of war pension claims made in respect of members of the naval, military or air force) is amended as follows. |
| (2) | After subsection (1) there is inserted— |
"(1A) A member of the Armed Forces may elect to have an appeal of a claim under this section considered by the Pensions Appeal Tribunal without the claim having first been referred to any Internal Dispute Resolution Process established under the Armed Forces (Pensions and Compensation) Act 2004."
| (3) | Section 2 (Appeals against rejection of war pension claims made in respect of mariners, pilots, etc) is amended as follows. |
| (4) | After subsection (1) there is inserted— |
"(1A) A member of the Armed Forces may elect to have an appeal of a claim under this section considered by the Pensions Appeal Tribunal without the claim having first been referred to any Internal Dispute Resolution Process established under the Armed Forces (Pensions and Compensation) Act 2004.".'.
Mr Gerald Howarth
Mr Julian Brazier
20
Schedule 1, page 5, line 5, at end insert—
| '( ) | (1) | Section 1 (Appeals against rejection of war pension claims made in respect of members of the naval, military or air forces) is amended as follows. |
| (2) | After subsection (3) there is inserted— |
| "(3ZA) | Where the Minister has received notification from the claimant of the claimant's wish to appeal whether or not that notification was received before the Minister notified the claimant of his decision under— |
(b) a scheme mentioned in section 1(2) of the Armed Forces (Pensions and Compensation) Act 2004 (compensation schemes for armed and reserve forces)
| | the appeal shall lie to the Tribunal." |
| ( ) | (1) | Section 2 (Appeals against rejection of war pension claims made in respect of mariners, pilots, etc) is amended as follows. |
| (2) | After subsection (2) there is inserted— |
| "(3) | Where the Minister has received notification from the claimant of the claimant's wish to appeal whether or not that notification was received before the Minister notified the claimant of his decision under— |
(b) a scheme mentioned in section 1(2) of the Armed Forces (Pensions and Compensation) Act 2004 (compensation schemes for armed and reserve forces)
| | the appeal shall lie to the Tribunal.".'. |
Mr Gerald Howarth
Mr Julian Brazier
17
Schedule 1, page 5, line 15, at end insert—
| '(4) | After subsection (2) there is inserted— |
"(2A) A member of the Armed Forces may elect to have an appeal of a claim under this section considered by the Pensions Appeal Tribunal without the claim having first been referred to any Internal Dispute Resolution Process established under the Armed Forces (Pensions and Compensation) Act 2004.".'.
Mr Gerald Howarth
Mr Julian Brazier
19
Schedule 1, page 5, line 15, at end insert—
| '( ) | After section 3 there is inserted— |
"3A Retention of Right to Appeal
| (1) | Where the Minister accepts any claim under— |
(a) sections 1, 2 or 3 of this Act; or
(b) a scheme mentioned in section 1(2) of the Armed Forces (Pensions and Compensation) Act 2004 (compensation schemes for armed and reserve forces)
| | the claimant retains the right of appeal to the Pensions Appeal Tribunal. |
| (2) | Any appeal under subsection (1) above may consider the level of tariff attributable to the claim.".'. |
Mr Gerald Howarth
Mr Julian Brazier
21
Schedule 1, page 6, line 35, at end insert—
| '( ) | The Social Security Commissioners (Procedure) Regulations 1999 (S.I. 1999/1495) is amended as follows— |
(a) after Regulation 24(6)(ff) insert—
"(fff) in cases concerning the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme funding for services for representation of a claimant shall be provided by the Community Legal Service under the provisions of section (6) of the Access to Justice Act 1999 (c. 22)."
(b) after Regulation 28(1) insert—
"(1A) in cases concerning the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme a Commissioner may make a determination or decision including an Assessment.
(1B) an "Assessment" in article 28(1A) has the same meaning as in section 5 of the Pensions Appeal Tribunals Act 1943.".'.
Mr David Lammy
22
Clause 7, page 3, line 23, at end insert—
'( ) In Schedule 4 to the Social Security Act 1998 (c.14) (Social Security Commisioners), in paragraph 3(1) (expenses of attending appeal proceedings), after "under section 14 of this Act" there is inserted ",under section 6A of the Pensions Appeal Tribunals Act 1943".'.
Mr Ivor Caplin
14
Clause 10, page 3, line 33, at end insert—
'( ) An order under this Act may make different provision for different purposes.'.
Mr Gerald Howarth
Hugh Robertson
10
Clause 10, page 3, line 38, at end insert—
'(2A) Authority vested in the Secretary of State to vary the schemes set out in section 1 may only be made by the authority under this section.'.
Mr Gerald Howarth
Hugh Robertson
11
Clause 10, page 4, line 3, leave out from 'Act' to 'is' in line 6.
Mr Gerald Howarth
Hugh Robertson
13
Clause 10, page 4, line 5, after 'which', insert 'modifies the working of the scheme or which'.
Mr Gerald Howarth
Hugh Robertson
12
Clause 10, page 4, line 8, leave out from 'Parliament' to end.
NEW CLAUSES
No detriment
Mr Gerald Howarth
Hugh Robertson
NC1
To move the following Clause:—
'(1) Where a person receives a benefit under an existing scheme which would not be provided under changes included in a proposed scheme, that person ("the transferor") may transfer to the proposed schemes whilst also continuing to receive personally the additional benefits derived from the present scheme.
(2) The documentation of the transfer procedure shall prominently include particulars of how the transferor may protect such additional personal benefit.'.
Re-employment of armed forces pension recipients
Mr Gerald Howarth
Hugh Robertson
NC2
To move the following Clause:—
'(1) Where—
| (a) | the Secretary of State determines for reasons of general personnel management that a person shall cease to be employed as an active full time member of the armed forces and therefore grants that person Early Retirement Income in accordance with Schedule [Armed Forces Pension Scheme], and |
| (b) | the person concerned is re-employed for service under the Crown, including for service with the armed forces in another capacity, |
such re-employment will be permissible without abatement of Early Retirement Income.
(2) In this section "reasons of general personnel management" means decisions reached by the Secretary of State in his absolute discretion as to future requirements of numbers in particular roles and ranks.
(3) In certifying reasons of general personnel management as the grounds for granting Early Retirement Income the Secretary of State's decision shall be conclusive and binding grounds for excluding the Early Retirement Income in this case from rules otherwise applying to pensions.'.
Representative trustees
Mr Gerald Howarth
Hugh Robertson
NC3
to move the following Clause:—
'(1) The Secretary of State shall appoint not less than seven and not more than nine persons to serve as Representative Trustees in respect of the two schemes taken together ("the Trustees").
(2) Persons so appointed may be appointed for between three and seven years in the first instance and thereafter for periods of three years which shall be renewable.
(3) Persons so appointed shall include—
| (a) | not less than five persons who have served in the armed forces, of whom at least two shall have served in non-commissioned rank; |
| (b) | at least one beneficiary under the compensation scheme; |
| (c) | at least two who are expert in pensions matters; |
| (d) | at least two who are concurrently members of the Armed Forces Pay Review Body; and |
| (e) | a person appointed by the Secretary of State to serve as Chairman of the Trustees ("the Chairman"). |
(4) The categories listed in subsection (3) are not mutually exclusive.
(5) The Secretary of State in consultation with the Chairman shall appoint a suitably qualified person to serve as Secretary to the Trustees ("the Secretary") and shall provide the Secretary and Trustees with all the facilities necessary for their work.
(6) The Secretary of State must consult with the Trustees on proposals to modify the scheme in accordance with section 3(1)(b).
(7) The Trustees shall keep the Schemes under regular review and shall report at least annually to the Secretary of State and may so report more frequently if they believe that to be necessary.
(8) The Secretary of State shall cause any report to him by the Trustees to be published if the Trustees so request.
(9) The Trustees may make to the Secretary of State recommendations for variations in the Scheme.
(10) The Secretary of State may, at his discretion, reject, vary or accept and apply such recommendations. In either case he shall make a written statement to Parliament setting out the recommendation, the reasons of the Trustees for making it, his decision and his reasons for that.'.
