Part 1: Public Service Pension Schemes Chapter 1: Schemes other than Judicial Schemes and Local Government Schemes Section 19: Pension credit members
Pension sharing orders for divorces or dissolutions of civil partnerships generally award the member’s ex-spouse a percentage of the value of the pension at the time of the divorce. The value is expressed as a Cash Equivalent Transfer Value (CETV). The ex-spouse/civil partner then becomes a member of the pension scheme in their own right and is known as the pension credit member, with a pension equivalent to the credit. As a result of the remedy, it is possible that the value of the pension at the time of the divorce/dissolution would have been different had the member always been a member of the alternative scheme for the remedy period. This means that even if the percentage quoted in the pension sharing order remains the same, the actual amount credited to the pension credit member may have been different.
	This section therefore enables the responsible authority for a Chapter 1 legacy scheme or a Chapter 1 new scheme (as the pension credit member may have credits in a legacy scheme, a new scheme or both depending on their particular divorce settlement) to award any additional credit due to the pension credit member as a result of the remedy. However, it does not give schemes the power to amend the pension sharing order itself.
	This is an important part of the Government’s commitment in its consultation response 1 that where the alternative CETV would have been higher, the pension credit member’s benefits will be increased in proportion with the increase in CETV to reflect the additional amount.
	Section 19(1) permits a scheme to make regulations about the resulting pension credit (the benefit awarded by the Court to the former spouse or civil partner) and the pension debit (the equivalent deduction made to the entitlement of the member with remediable service).
	Section 19(4) envisages that scheme regulations may include provision to adjust the pension benefits of both parties to the Court order (the pension credit member and the pension debit member) to reflect a retrospective change in the entitlement relating to the period of remediable service under this Chapter. The scheme may make provision to adjust a pension debit (which relates to the member with remediable service) where the member elects to receive new scheme benefits. The scheme may make provision to adjust a pension credit on the assumption that an election is made or is not made. The reason for providing for scheme regulations to make an assumption is to enable the scheme to award the higher pension credit, based on the higher value of the legacy or new scheme benefits, and to reflect the fact that the pension credit may be accessed prior to the point where a pension debit member is able to make their election (for example, where the pension credit member is younger than the pension debit member).
	As members with remediable service that is mixed (because they had tapered protection) will not be able to retain that mixed service under the remedy, section 19(5) provides that scheme regulations must include provision that a pension credit may only be based on the value of legacy or new scheme benefits in relation to the remedy period and cannot be based on a combination of the two.