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SOCIAL SECURITY PENSIONS (NORTHERN IRELAND) ORDER 1975 - SECT 60

60.(1) On an application made to them in respect of an occupational pension
scheme by persons competent to make such an application in respect of it the
Occupational Pensions Board may make an order

(a)authorising the modification of the scheme with a view to achieving any one
or more of the purposes specified in paragraph (3);

(b)modifying the scheme with a view to achieving any one or more of those
purposes; or

(c)directing or authorising the scheme to be wound up on grounds specified in
paragraph (4).

(2) Nothing in this Article applies to public service pension schemes.

(3) The purposes referred to in paragraph (1)(a) and (b) are those of enabling
the scheme

(a)to be so treated that an employment to which it applies may be
contracted-out employment by reference to it;

(b)to qualify for the approval of the Inland Revenue for the purposes of
Chapter II of Part II of the Finance Act 1970 or to provide benefits enhanced
up to the limits suitable in a scheme for which such approval is sought;

(c)to provide for the transfer of accrued rights to another scheme with a view
to the acquisition, for those whose rights are transferred, of rights under
the other scheme in connection with change of employment or otherwise, and for
the allowance of transfer credits;

(d)to comply with the preservation requirements (without prejudice, however,
to anything in Article 59(5) to (12));

(e)to comply with the equal access requirements specified in Article 55 but
without prejudice to anything in Article 58;

(f)to provide for accrued entitlement to benefit (whether in payment or not),
so far as payable out of the resources of the scheme, to be surrendered by
beneficiaries (at their option and not otherwise, so long as the scheme
remains in force and is not being, or to be, wound up) in exchange for other
rights assured by means of one or more policies of insurance or annuity
contracts, or by other means;

(g)to qualify under Article 65 or to have included in, or removed from, it
provisions designed to avoid the effect of the rules of law relating to
perpetuities,

(4) The grounds on which the Board may direct or authorise a scheme to be
wound up, on an application made to them in that behalf under paragraph (1),
are that, having regard to any provision of this Order, or to any other
enactment (passed, enacted or made or to be passed, enacted or made) amending
or replacing any such provision or making provision for similar purposes the
scheme ought to be replaced (in whole or in part) by a different scheme, or is
no longer required.

(5) In relation to an occupational pension scheme, the persons competent to
make an application to the Board under this Article are

(a)the trustees or managers of the scheme;

(b)any person other than the trustees or managers who has power to alter any
of the rules of the scheme;

(c)any person who is an employer of persons in service in an employment to
which the scheme applies; and

(d)such other persons as regulations may specify, in relation to any category
of schemes into which the scheme falls, as being proper persons to make an
application for the purposes of this Article in respect of a scheme of that
category.

(6) The Board shall not entertain an application for an order by them under
this Article unless they are satisfied that the purposes of the application
(whether the modification or the winding-up of the scheme in question)

(a)cannot be achieved otherwise than by means of such an order; or

(b)can only be achieved in accordance with a procedure which is liable to be
unduly complex or protracted, or involves the obtaining of consents which
cannot be obtained, or can only be obtained with undue delay or difficulty;

(7) The Board shall not make an order under this Article (whether related to
the modification or to the winding-up of a scheme) unless they are satisfied
that it is reasonable in all the circumstances to make it; and they shall not
make any such order as would or might in their opinion result in any existing
or prospective entitlement of a member of the scheme, in respect of a period
of service before the coming into force of the order or of any modification
which the order authorises, being diminished or curtailed without his consent,
unless they are satisfied that it is in the interests of the generality of
members that the order should be made.

(8) In considering whether or not to make an order, the Board shall have
regard to the structure and character of the scheme and the benefits provided
by it, to the provisions of this Order and Chapter II of Part II of the
Finance Act 1970, and generally to all the circumstances.

(9) An order of the Board under this Article

(a)if it is an order authorising the modification of a scheme, shall be framed
so as to confer the power of modification on such persons as the Board think
proper (including persons who were not parties to any application made to the
Board) and shall include directions indicating the modifications which they
consider to be called for;

(b)if it is an order authorising a scheme to be wound up, shall include
directions with respect to the manner and timing of the winding-up;

(10) Paragraph (9) of Article 59 shall apply with the necessary modifications
in relation to an order of the Board under this Article as it applies in
relation to an order of theirs under paragraph (7)(b) or (c) of that Article,
references in paragraph (9) to modification being construed for this purpose
as including references to winding-up; and

(a)an order authorising modification may enable those exercising any power
conferred by the order to exercise it retrospectively (whether or not the
power could otherwise be so exercised); and

(b)an order modifying a scheme may modify it retrospectively;

© 1975 Crown Copyright

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