Part 1: Public Service Pension Schemes Chapter 1: Schemes other than Judicial Schemes and Local Government Schemes Section 5: Election for retrospective provision to apply to opted-out service
Where an individual chose to opt out of a Chapter 1 legacy or Chapter 1 new scheme in relation to service between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022, section 5(1) of the Act provides that scheme regulations for the legacy scheme must make allowance for that service to be reinstated. Section 5(2) provides that, where an election is made, the period in question (being a period or periods of service between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022) is treated as pensionable service for the purposes of determining a member’s remediable service under section 1. This section ensures that members who would have had remediable service but for the fact that they opted-out of either a Chapter 1 legacy scheme or a Chapter 1 new scheme (for example, because they considered the Chapter 1 new scheme to be unsuitable) are able to re-join their Chapter 1 legacy scheme provided they fulfil the eligibility criteria set by scheme regulations. Once they have done so, the same provisions and processes will apply to them as to other eligible members; for example, they will be able to choose which set of benefits they wish to receive for the remedy period.
	Section 5(3) and 5(4) provide that scheme regulations must set a deadline for members to make an election under section 5(1) and provide that the deadline must be no later than one year beginning with the day on which a remediable service statement is first provided in respect of the member (or such later time as the scheme manager considers reasonable). Section 5(3)(c) makes the member’s election irrevocable.
	Under section 5(5) scheme regulations may make provision pursuant to which a person must first make an application to the scheme before an election can be made, or that the application may be refused unless a condition specified in the regulations is first met, for example.
	Examples of conditions that may be specified pursuant to section 5(5) are set out in section 5(6). These may include, for example, allowing applications only where the member can demonstrate that they opted out as a consequence of the discrimination that arose or, where an individual participated in a partnership pension account, that an application may only be granted where they transfer to the relevant scheme those rights in their partnership pension account that are referable to contributions made in respect of opted out service, or, where their partnership pension account rights have already been transferred to another scheme, make a payment to the relevant scheme in respect of that transfer, and surrender any entitlement that arises in relation to those contributions made in relation to the employment (by the employer or the member). Partnership pension accounts are defined contribution occupational pension scheme accounts offered to employees of the Civil Service as an alternative to membership of one of the main public service defined benefit pension schemes. Instead of opting out of pension scheme membership entirely, members may have chosen to have a partnership pension account.