Pension Arrangements
The Authority currently administers five occupational pension schemes. There are four schemes for firefighters: the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme 1992 (FPS) (closed to new entrants from April 2006); the New Firefighters’ Pension Scheme 2006 (NFPS) (closed to new entrants from April 2015); the Modified Scheme 1992/2006 (specific to retained firefighters who served between 1 July 2000 and 6 April 2006); and the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme 2015 (FPS 2015). The employee contribution rates effective from 1 April 2016, determined by statute, currently range from 11.0% to 17.0% for the FPS and Modified 1992, 8.5% to 12.5% for the NFPS and Modified 2006, and from 10.5% to 14.5% for the FPS 2015, depending on salary level. Employer contribution rates are 21.7% for FPS and Modified 1992, 11.9% for NFPS and Modified 2006, and 14.3% for FPS 2015 of core pensionable pay respectively.
Each scheme includes discretions which the employer decides how to apply. In November 2014 the Authority’s General Purposes Committee approved an overarching Pensions Policy which defined five key principles, each of which the Chief Executive must ensure is considered before applying any such discretions on behalf of the Authority. As at 31 December 2017 no discretions have been awarded.
Green Book staff have the right to belong to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). The employee contribution rates for this scheme currently range from 5.5% to 12.5% depending on salary level. The employer contribution rate is 12.5%.
A new Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS 2014) came into effect on 1 April 2014.This Scheme is a ‘Career Average Revalued Earnings’ (CARE) Scheme, unlike the original LGPS which is a final salary scheme. The new LGPS 2014 scheme introduced five employer discretions which were agreed by the General Purposes Committee in November 2014. Generally these discretions lead to enhanced benefits to scheme members, but result in additional costs which fall to the Authority and not to the pension scheme. As at 31 December 2017 no discretions have been awarded under the new LGPS 2014 scheme.