Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety

The Firefighters’ Pension Scheme Order (Northern Ireland) 2007

The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety has made The Firefighters’ Pension Scheme Order (Northern Ireland) 2007. It revokes and replaces the Firemen’s Pension Scheme Order (Northern Ireland) 2006, effecting necessary changes to the Scheme to reflect changes in taxation legislation.

The principal changes, apart from those that consist in the omission of spent or obsolete provisions, are:

— to make provision for the making of contributions and counting as pensionable service periods during when a member is on maternity, paternity or adoption leave (see articles 7, 12, 16, 45, 46, 47, 56, 58, Schedule 1 and Part III of Schedule 2);

— to anticipate the introduction of a new pension scheme, provision has been made for the Pension Scheme to cease to have effect on the day on which the new scheme is brought into operation (see article 2 and 57) as respects—

persons who take up employment with the Board as regular firefighters on of after 6th April 2006;

persons who, having made an election under article 59 of the Pension Scheme not to pay pension contributions, cancel that election on or after 6th April 2006; and

the spouses, civil partners and dependents of those two classes of person;

it is envisaged that the new scheme will require those classes of person to become members of it. Article 58 provides for a lower rate of contribution for those classes of person than for a firefighter whose employment with the Board began before 6th April 2006;

— the majority of the other amendments made by the Order have the effect of removing from the Pension Scheme provisions relating to non-contributory compensation for death and injury, or are consequential on the removal of those provisions. The provisions removed from the Pension Scheme are re-enacted in the Firefighters’ Compensation Scheme, which is set out in the Schedule to the Firefighters’ Compensation Scheme Order (Northern Ireland) 2007.

— the provisions which relate to the payment and calculation of pensions awarded to regular firefighters whose employment ceases by way of ill-health have been replaced. Firefighters who are found by a qualified medical practitioner to be capable of undertaking employment outside of the fire and rescue service for 30 hours a week on average over a 12-month period (whether or not they actually take up any employment) will be entitled to a lower tier ill-health pension. Those who are found to be incapable of undertaking such employment will be entitled to both a lower tier ill-health pension and a higher tier ill-health pension. There is no change in the method of calculating the newly styled “higher tier” ill-health pension (paragraph 4 of Part III of Schedule 2), it will not be possible, however, to commute any portion of the higher-tier award. Nor is there any change in the method of calculating the newly styled “lower tier” ill-health pension for those regular firefighters who have less than 5 years’ pensionable service (paragraph 3 of that Part). The method of calculating other’“lower tier” ill-health pensions (paragraph 2 of that Part) has the effect that a pensioner who has 5 or more years’ pensionable service will be entitled to immediate payment of a deferred pension under article 16 of the Pension Scheme (the calculation is set out in Part V of Schedule 2).

— the correction of an anomaly in the rules which allowed an individual who was found unfit for fire-fighting, but able to carry out other duties, to resign with a deferred pension prior to re-deployment, and immediately request early payment of that pension on the ground that he or she was permanently unfit for fire-fighting (see article 16(4)(b));

— to introduce a new Part (Part P) which requires the Board to establish and maintain a Firefighters’ Pension Fund (“the Fund”) for the purposes of the Pension Scheme and in connection with the rights and liabilities under earlier versions of the Scheme. Pension contributions made by firefighters and the Board will be paid into the Fund and pensions and other payments will be paid out of the Fund;

— to remove provisions relating to non-contributory compensation for death and injury. The provisions removed from the Pension Scheme are re-enacted in the Firefighters’ Compensation Scheme (Northern Ireland) 2007.

— to make legislative provision for the re-deployment of personnel where opportunity exists;

— to remove provisions relating to War Service;

— to make changes to require an appellant, in certain circumstances, to pay the costs when he withdraws an appeal to the independent medical referee within 21 days of the date of the appeal (see Schedule 8).

The provisions of this Order take effect from a date before its making by virtue of Article 10(4) of the Fire Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1984, as continued by Article 60(1) and (2) of the Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006.