Retained firefighters' pension settlement - update - are you affected?

Update

An update on the pension exercise currently being undertaken. NFRS wishes to assure you that we are working tirelessly to get as many statements as possible regarding individuals buying back or accessing their pensions. NFRS have received national guidance that individuals 60 years + who haven’t yet had any pension are first, then NFRS will work through the other cohorts as per national guidance.

The attached timeline of what NFRS expects to happen but as you can see the process is very slow.

Therefore, can NFRS ask that you remain patient. Please be assured NFRS are working to deal with all members in a timely manner.

Timeline of information flow between Member, Nottinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service (NFRS) and West Yorkshire Pension Fund (WYPF). 

Please note NFRS or WYPF can not provide any financial support or advice regarding the paperwork sent, if unsure please seek independent financial advice.

1. NFRS payroll will do initial calculations. This will then be sent to the member for a decision to be made. On average two to four records will be completed per week.
2. Member receives relevant information to make a decision. If they wish to proceed then forms are wet signed and returned to pensionqueries@notts-fire.gov.uk. NFRS will not check the form so the members need to ensure these are completed accurately. 
3. NFRS will pass on information to WYPF within 14 days. This will take WYPF a minimum of three months to complete their calculations before sending back to the member.
4. Member will review information and once necessary paperwork is signed return to the following email addresses: Matthews@wypf.org.uk – to create payment notification.
   pensionqueries@notts-fire.gov.uk – for your pension payment records.

Note - Interest rates are determined by Bank of England between 3rd - 7th of each month when interest rates are issued, this can cause delays in processing. Please be aware that that this is a time-consuming process which all parties must remain patient, we are all working tirelessly to get payments to members as quickly as possible. There is an limited number of pensions and/or payroll administrators to complete this process quicker due to an industry shortage of experts nationally.

---

Were you employed as a retained firefighter between 7 April 2000 and 5 April 2006?

At the time, you may have been unable to join the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme 1992 - but you may now be eligible to join a retained modified scheme, or pay more for eligible service.

• Have you received a letter from the Service stating you may be eligible for the RDS Modified Pension Scheme Matthews Second Exercise?
• Have you received a letter from a third party company (The Tracing Group) who are working on behalf of the Service, because the Service has attempted to contact you or your close relative but data suggests you/they no longer live at the address the Service has recorded?
• Have you heard of the Matthews Second Exercise from other parties, think you may be eligible but you have not heard directly from the Service and wish to know more?

Please respond to your letters as soon as possible. Anyone who has not been contacted by the Service or Tracing agency who believes they are in scope is encouraged to contact us at the following email address pensionqueries@notts-fire.gov.uk.

---

As detailed in About the FPS 2006 for special members, the original legal settlement under the Part-Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 only allowed certain retained firefighters with service between 1 July 2000 and 5 April 2006 to become members of the pension scheme. Eligible firefighters were asked whether they wanted to join this scheme in an options exercise which took place in 2014-2015. Elections to join had to be received by 30 September 2015. This was the ‘first options exercise’.

More recently, this judgment was challenged at the European Court of Justice in relation to fee-paid judges. The Court ruled in that case that service going back to the start of employment could be taken into account. The government accepted that the same principles apply to certain retained firefighters, whether they have made a legal claim or not.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was agreed by the government, representative bodies, and Fire and Rescue Authorities (FRAs) on 9 March 2022.

What does this mean?

A second options exercise will take place to allow eligible retained firefighters to buy pension service as a special member of the FPS 2006, backdated to the start date of their employment.

How do I know if I'm eligible?

Membership will be open to all such eligible individuals, this includes:

• current firefighters
• Firefighters who have left the service
• Firefighters who have left the service and are in receipt of a pension, and;
• Firefighters who have left the service and are in receipt of ill health retirement benefits

If you are eligible, you do no not need to have made a legal claim to be offered backdated access to the FPS 2006.

Please see the examples below:

Example 1

Q: I left employment as a retained firefighter between 7 April 2000 and 30 June 2000. I was not given an option to join under the first options exercise – will I be eligible this time?

A: Yes, you meet the condition set out in point one above. The earliest in scope date is 7 April 2000. If your employment in the same role is continuous and started before 7 April 2000, you will be given an opportunity to buy service to your original start date.

Example 2

Q: I was eligible for the first options exercise as I had retained service within the period 1 July 2000 and 5 April 2006, however, my retained service started before 1 July 2000 – will I be eligible for the second options exercise?

A: Yes, you meet the condition set out in point two above. The earliest in scope date is 7 April 2000. If your employment in the same role is continuous and started before 7 April 2000, you will be given an opportunity to buy service to your original start date.

Example 3

Q: I was eligible for the first options exercise as I had retained service within the period 1 July 2000 and 5 April 2006 only - will I be eligible this time?

A: If your FRA sent you a statement of service in the first options exercise you had an opportunity to join previously. This means that you may not be in scope for the second options exercise.

If your FRA only sent you an initial letter asking you to express your interest and did not provide you with a statement of service, you may be in scope this time.

What will I be entitled to?

Eligible retained firefighters will be able to buy pension service as a special member for some or all their employment between 7 April 2000 and 5 April 2006, as well as any continuous employment up to 7 April 2000 and/ or any continuous employment from 5 April 2006.

A retained firefighter transferring from one FRA to another without a break in service will be treated as having continuous employment with the second FRA.

The second options exercise

Please read the details in this document and the RDS employee informal guidance that sets out the terms of the modified scheme.

In addition, a recorded presentation has been produced locally, accessible by those who are/were employed by Derbyshire; Leicestershire or Nottinghamshire Services.