Meeting documents

Pension Fund Committee
Friday, 25 November 2005

PF251105-20

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Division(s): N/A

ITEM PF20

PENSION FUND COMMITTEE – 25 NOVEMBER 2005

PAYMENT OF DEPENDENT’S PENSION BENEFIT

Report by the Head of Finance & Procurement

Introduction

  1. The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) Regulations state that if a member dies, the administering authority has absolute discretion to make payments to or for the benefit of the member's nominee or personal representatives or to any person appearing to the authority to have been her/his relative or dependent at any time. The Regulations also state that if the administering authority has not made payments equalling in aggregate the member’s death grant before the expiry of the 2-year period, they must pay the shortfall to the member’s personal representatives.

  2. For deferred pensioner members a long-term spouse’s pension is payable from the date of death, at the rate of half the deferred pension.

  3. In addition payments are due to eligible children. The Regulations define an eligible child as the deceased’s legitimate or adopted child, or a child who was wholly or mainly dependent on the deceased at the time of death.

  4. A person will only count as a child if s/he is aged under 17; or since s/he became 17 has been engaged continuously in full time education or in training for a trade, profession or vocation; or s/he is physically or mentally incapacitated and became so whilst a child - aged under 17 or in continuous full time education since age 17.

  5. If an appropriate administering authority wish, they may treat education or training as continuous despite a break. In the past the Committee has asked for each such case to be reported for their decision.

    6. Current Payment

  6. An employee left one of the fund’s participating authorities in 1991 and subsequently died in May 2005 leaving a widower and two daughters.

  7. Payment of the spouse’s pension and child’s pension to the younger daughter, aged 17, has been made in accordance with the Regulations.

  8. The elder daughter, aged 21, is in the third year of a degree course. However, she took a gap year in 2002/2003, and therefore the decision whether to treat this education as continuous rests with the administering authority.

    9. RECOMMENDATIONS

  9. The Committee is ASKED:

          1. to decide whether it wishes to treat the education of the elder daughter as continuous;

          2. whether it wishes for future cases to be referred to the Committee for decision.

SUE SCANE
Head of Finance & Procurement

Background papers: Nil

Contact Officers, Sally Fox 01865 816080

November 2005

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