Page 37 - Group Insurance and Retirement Benefit IC 83 E- Book
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given for a ' local Act ' fund, since the contributions, not being made ' in pursuance of any

                   public general Act of Parliament ', are outside the scope of the 1922 Act.
                   18. The foregoing paragraphs relate to public superannuation schemes based on a 40-year

                   service life.
                   There is a similar case for a unified system for all public schemes based on a 30-year

                   service life, i.e. police, firemen, mental health officers in the National Health Service, and
                   prison officers.

                   Interchange between the two unified systems could take place subject to an appropriate

                   adjustment on transfer in respect of reckon ability of past service.
                   19.  All  the  preceding  considerations  have  referred  to  existing  branches  of  the  public

                   service.  The  Labour  Party  has  indicated  a  considerable  sphere  in  which  future

                   nationalization  is  proposed.  If  this  programme  materializes,  the  appropriate  existing
                   'private'  superannuation  schemes  will  presumably  be  assimilated  and  the  scope  of  the

                   interchange rules still further extended. The exact degree of future nationalization is of
                   course unpredictable. For this reason,  and also  on general  grounds,  it would seem  not

                   unreasonable  that  any  unified  superannuation  scheme  for  the  public  service  should
                   contain provision for its adoption, on a voluntary basis, by approved 'private'.

                   The Development of Public Superannuation Schemes 9 employers, such as the financial

                   houses  and  the  larger  commercial  and  industrial  concerns;  separate  financial
                   arrangements might or might not be essential. The practical difficulty would, of course,

                   lie in determining how far this process should be allowed to continue.
                   20. It is hoped that the above remarks may serve to produce a useful discussion on what

                   is,  I  feel,  a  matter  of  great  practical  importance  at  this  time.  Continued  haphazard
                   development in this sphere will introduce yet further complexities into an already over-

                   complicated subject, and will render ultimate clarification more and more difficult and

                   remote.
                   In the limited sphere of the local government service, the possibility of simplification,

                   with particular reference to unification of funds, has already attracted attention. Since this

                   paper was first prepared, a paper entitled Superannuation—Present Tendencies and their
                   Implications by R. S. McDougall, F.I.M.T.A., A.C.A., has been presented to the Institute

                   of Municipal Treasurers and Accountants. As I have endeavored to show, however, all
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