40. Contingent assets and liabilities - Notes to the core accounting statements

At 31 March 2021, the Authority had no contingent assets

At 31 March 2021, the Authority has two contingent liabilities relating to an employment tribunal case (known as McCloud) which was brought against the Government in relation to possible discrimination in relation to the introduction of the 2015 Firefighters' Pension Scheme. The scheme included transitional protection arrangements between the old scheme and the new scheme. These transitional arrangements were found to be unlawful as they discriminated on the grounds of age. Fire Authorities are in a difficult position as they are required to implement the remedy in a timely manner whilst the discriminatory part of the pension legislation is not expected to be updated until at least October 2023. The Government has issued some “Immediate Detriment” guidance regarding how to deal with those firefighters who are coming up for retirement, but there remains a considerable lack of clarity. The government are not recommending that retrospective cases are addressed at the moment due to the difficulties particularly around tax arrangements. It is not yet clear what future costs the Authority will face in implementing the McCloud remedy and whether there will be any new burden grant available from the government to cover these costs, which could be significant.