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Amendments made: No. 106, in page 165, line 20, at end insert:
'Payments in final discharge of liabilities under s.52(1) of the Transport Act 1980
7A.—(1) In section 52 of the Transport Act 1980, in subsection (1) (which requires the Secretary of State to make payments each year to B.R. pension schemes in respect of unfunded pension obligations owed by the Board), after the words "Subject to the provisions of this section" there shall be inserted the words ", section 52A" and after that section there shall be inserted—
§ "Power to make payments by way of final discharge of
liabilities under s.52(1).
§ 52A.—(1) If the Minister is desirous of making to the persons administering a B.R. pension scheme one or more payments by way of final discharge of his liability to make payments to them under section 52(1) in respect of the proportion which has not been funded, as determined for the purposes of section 52(1)(a), of so much of any relevant pension obligations as are owed in respect of —
- (a) all pension rights under the scheme,
- (b) pension rights of some particular class or description under the scheme, or
- (c) pension rights of persons of some particular class or description under the scheme,
§ (2) The matters mentioned in subsection (1) are—
- (a) the capital value of the attributable unfunded obligations in question, as at the beginning of the next financial year;
- (b) the amount or amounts, or the method of determining the amount or amounts, of the payment or payments to be made under this section by way of final discharge of the Minister's liability under section 52(1) to make payments in respect of the attributable unfunded obligations; and
- (c) the date or dates on which that payment or those payments are to be made.
§ (3) In making any determination for the purposes of paragraph (b) of subsection (2), the amount or, as the case may be, the aggregate of the amounts mentioned in that paragraph shall be such as to include—
- (a) a sum equal to the capital value determined under paragraph (a) of that subsection; and
- (b) interest, payable at such rate as may be determined by the Minister, on so much (if any) of that sum as may from time to time be outstanding after the beginning of the financial year mentioned in the said paragraph (a).
§ (4) For the purposes of this section, the capital value mentioned in paragraph (a) of subsection (2) shall either—
- (a) he determined by the Minister, or
- (b) if the Minister so requires in the particular case, be determined by the actuary to the scheme in question and approved by the Minister,
§ (5) Notice under subsection (1) above shall only he given after consultation—
- (a) with the persons administering the scheme in question; and
- (b) with the actuary to that scheme, except in a case where the capital value mentioned in subsection (2)(a) is determined by that actuary pursuant to subsection (4)(b);
§ (6) The giving of a notice under subsection (1) shall—
- (a) terminate the liability of the Minister to make payments under section 52(1) in respect of the attributable unfunded obligations in question for financial years beginning after the giving of the notice; and
- (b) impose upon the Minister a duty—
- (i) to make to the persons administering the scheme in question the payment or payments mentioned in subsection (2)(b); and
- (ii) to do so at the time or times specified in pursuance of subsection (2)(c).
§ (7) Where notice has been given under subsection (1), the Minister may—
- (a) at any time before the expiration of the period of eleven months beginning with the financial year mentioned in subsection (2)(a) as it applies in relation to that notice, and
- (b) after consultation with the persons administering the scheme in question and the actuary to the scheme,
§ (8) If notice is given under subsection (7) of an amendment affecting the amount of a payment which has been made pursuant to this section, the Minister may also give notice to the persons administering the scheme in question requiring them—
- (a) to repay to him so much of the payment made as exceeds the amended amount; and
- (b) to pay interest to him, at such rate as he may determine, on the amount to be repaid, as from the date on which the payment in question was made by him;
§ (9) Nothing in this section affects the liability of the Board in respect of any relevant pension obligations, but where any liability of the Minister to make payments under section 52(1) has been terminated by virtue of paragraph (a) of subsection (6), the amount of any payments required to be made by the Minister under section 52(1) shall be determined for each of the financial years mentioned in that paragraph as if the Board's liability in respect of the attributable unfunded obligations mentioned in that paragraph had been discharged.
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(10) In this section
attributable unfunded obligations" means the proportion which has not been funded, as determined for the purposes of section 52(1)(a), of so much of the relevant pension obligations mentioned in subsection (1) as are owed in respect of the pension rights identified pursuant to that subsection;
capital value", in relation to any attributable unfunded obligations, means the capital equivalent, actuarially determined, of the payments that would, apart from this section, have been expected to be made by the Minister under section 52(1) in respect of those attributable unfunded obligations for the successive financial years beginning with the one mentioned in subsection (2)(a).
§ (11) Any sums required for the making of payments under this section by the Minister shall be paid out of money provided by Parliament."
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(2) In section 70 of that Act, in subsection (2), (interpretation) for the definition of "the Minister" there shall be substituted—
"the Minister" means the Secretary of State;