Part 1: Public Service Pension Schemes Chapter 1: Schemes other than Judicial Schemes and Local Government Schemes Section 6: Immediate choice to receive new scheme benefits
This section requires that scheme regulations make provision for a pensioner member or the beneficiary of a deceased member, in respect of whom Chapter 1 legacy scheme benefits are payable, to make an election to receive Chapter 1 new scheme benefits in respect of their remediable service. What is a deferred choice for active and deferred members (under section 10) needs to be an immediate choice in relation to members who have already retired or died by the time the remedy is implemented, as entitlement to the payment of benefits in relation to remediable service will have already arisen. Pensioner members, and survivors of deceased members (or authorised representatives, where appropriate) need to be able to make a choice as to which set of benefits to receive as soon as the scheme is able to facilitate it.
	Section 6(2) defines the concept of "relevant member" for the purpose of interpreting section 6(1).
	Under section 6(3), where a pensioner member has multiple employments that are pensionable separately provision must be made to allow for separate elections in respect of each employment.
	Section 6(4) states that section 2(1) only has effect for the purposes of determining the amount of benefits payable in relation to a member's remediable service if an election for new scheme benefits under section 6 is not made.
	If a section 6 election is made, then section 2(1) has effect but not for the purposes of section 2(3)(b): the benefits payable in respect of any of the member’s remediable service in a Chapter 1 new scheme will therefore be unchanged. Deferring the application of section 2(3)(b) until the member or their beneficiary has had the opportunity to determine whether they wish to elect to receive new scheme benefits in relation to the member’s remediable service means that the amount of benefits payable to or in respect of a pensioner or deceased member will not change upon the coming into force of section 2(1). This is designed to avoid double corrections of members’ pension benefits and to avoid unnecessary revisions to tax returns in cases where members who are already in receipt of their pension wish to retain their existing benefits.
	Section 6(5) provides that the effect of a section 6 election is that the benefits payable by the Chapter 1 legacy scheme in relation to their legacy scheme remediable service (i.e. the service that was originally in the legacy scheme, prior to the effect of section 2(1)) are new scheme benefits. The overall effect of a section 6 election is that all the benefits payable in respect of remediable service will be new scheme benefits.
	Section 6(7) confirms that elections under section 6 have effect in relation to the whole period of the member’s remediable service in the employment or office in question that is pensionable service under the scheme. For members who may have had tapered protection, they will not be able to retain mixed benefits for the period of remediable service; they must choose to have either all new scheme benefits or all legacy scheme benefits for the whole period of remediable service.