Page 37 - Group Insurance and Retirement Benefit IC 83 E- Book

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