The Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA), our scheme regulators, have issued the following announcement regarding the removal of the Rule of 85

THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT PENSION SCHEME IN SCOTLAND
REMOVAL OF RULE OF 85

You will be aware that earlier this week the Minister for Finance and Local Government Reform announced that the Scottish Executive has given careful consideration to the legal opinion presented by COSLA on the question of the removal of the Rule of 85 from the LGPS in Scotland, and also that presented to the UK Government by UNISON. The Executive has concluded that retaining the Rule would be incompatible with Directive 2000/78/EEC on age discrimination grounds and therefore it will require to be removed with effect from October this year, in accordance with the UK Government's timetable for implementing the Directive.

The Executive therefore intends that the Rule of 85 will be removed with effect from 1 October 2006 by amending the Local Government Pension Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 1998 in order to ensure compliance with the EC Directive and to help maintain the sustainability and affordability of the Scottish scheme. Where it can be objectively justified consideration will be given to providing transitional protection to those existing scheme members who might have qualified to receive an unreduced early pension under the Rule if it was not removed, and who may not have sufficient time to make alternative savings plans for their retirement. As was set out in the Executive's consultation paper in September 2004, it is proposed that protection be provided to those existing scheme members who would satisfy the current Rule of 85 and attain age 60 by 31 March 2013. However, during the consultation period on the draft Regulations to implement these changes, the SPPA will wish to continue to discuss such proposals with representatives of local government employers (COSLA) and of the unions representing LGPS members. These discussions have already commenced and our objective is to conclude these as soon as possible.