I worked for the Inner London Education Authority as a part-time lecturer from 1974-87. During that time I requested to join the Teachers’ Superannuation Scheme but was refused. However: * I have lost all my payslips. Would bank statements suffice to establish entitlement or would another source be available?

* Who would I proceed against as the ILEA no longer exists?

* How would my contribution be calculated?

* Do you know of any legalfinancial advisers working on this issue? I have written to the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education, and been told that it is setting up a working party.

A In fact, the European Court of Justice gave six “equal treatment” judgments, including the Coloroll judgment, on September 28 and it is the judgments in the Vroege and Fisscher cases that deal most directly with the position of part-timers.

The judgments decided that the equal pay principle set out in Article 119 of the Treaty of Rome does cover the right to join a pension scheme (in other words, the rulings are in line with the Bilka-Kaufhaus case about which I have written before in this column), and thus sex discrimination in eligibility conditions is not permitted.

The exclusion of part-timers may, therefore, constitute discrimination if the exclusion affects a much greater number of one sex than the other unless the employer shows that it may be explained by objectively justified factors unrelated to the sex of the employees concerned.

The fact that the Inner London Education Authority no longer exists does not necessarily prevent you from making a claim for retrospective membership because the European Court’s judgments say that a claim may be brought against both the employer and the “administrators” of a pension scheme. You should therefore contact the Teachers’ Superannuation Scheme (TSS) direct in order to register your claim.

If you are admitted to membership retrospectively you may be required to pay contributions relating to the period concerned, in your case April 8, 1976 (the relevant date for equal access to an employer’s pension scheme) to your last day of service in 1987. Contributions will be calculated in accordance with the rules of the TSS which were prevailing then.

As far as evidence is concerned you should seek guidance from the TSS, but I imagine that documentary evidence from old ILEA records, if they still exist, will be the most reliable source of information.

Investigation of claims will, in practice, involve the TSS administrators, those employers which still exist and probably those unions which represent the interests of teachers. Most unions will, I expect, be setting up working parties and I suggest that you contact your union as well as TSS and ask them what documentary evidence they need.

You must, however, remember that it is not a foregone conclusion that you will obtain retrospective membership of the superannuation scheme - it must first be demonstrated that the exclusion of part-timers does affect a much greater proportion of one sex than the other and that the employer cannot show objective, non-sex-related factors to justify the exclusion.

It is highly likely that there will be further court action in the UK to resolve these points and, for example, to determine what should be done in cases where additional funds to pay retrospective benefits are not available, perhaps because the relevant employer no longer exists. You should anticipate a lengthy legal process before all these issues are resolved.

Andrew Warwick-Thompson is a lawyer who works for Bacon and Woodrow, the international firm of actuaries and consultants.

Readers who wish to put questions to him (no names will be published) should write to the Personal Finance Desk, The TES, Admiral House, 66-68 East Smithfield, London E1 9XY (fax 071-782 3200). No personal correspondence will be entered into and no legal liability will be accepted for the advice offered.