The Firefighters’ Pension Schemes (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2023

Amendment of Part 11 N.I.

6.—(1) Part 11 (pensionable pay, pension contributions and purchase of additional service) is amended as follows.

(2) In paragraph (10) of article 62 (final pensionable pay), at the end, insert “or, if a notice has been given under article 65B(13), set out in that notice”.

(3) After article 65A (purchase of service during the limited period), insert—

“Purchase of service during the extended limited period

65B.— (1) A person who satisfies the conditions specified in paragraph (2) may, in accordance with the following provisions of this Chapter, elect to pay pension contributions in respect of the person’s service during the extended limited period.

(2) The conditions are that—

(a) the person is a special member or is entitled to join this Scheme as a special member;

(b) the service is—

(i) as a retained firefighter;

(ii) as a regular firefighter where the person took up employment after 5th April 2006 as a regular firefighter immediately after the termination of the person’s employment as a retained firefighter; or

(iii) with the agreement of the Board, as a regular firefighter, but not as a retained firefighter, where the person had been employed by the Board as a retained firefighter and then required by the Board after 5th April 2006 to remain in employment as a retained firefighter whilst taking up employment as a regular firefighter; and

(c) paragraph (3) does not apply to the person.

(3) This paragraph applies to a person if—

(a) the person first took up employment as a retained firefighter on or after 1 July 2000; and

(b) the Board notified the person of their entitlement to join this Scheme as a special member under article 65A(4) of this Part, and, if required to do so, the Board complied with the requirements in article 65A(13) or article 66C(4) (election to purchase service: provisional enrolment) of this Part.

(4) The Board must determine whether paragraph (3)(b) applies in accordance with guidance issued by the Department from time to time, and must notify those persons to whom they determine that paragraph (3) applies within three months of the initial date.

(5) Where a person disagrees with the Board’s determination under paragraph (4), that person may, by written notice given to the Board within 28 days of receipt of the determination, require the Board to deal with the disagreement by means of the arrangements implemented by it pursuant to the requirements of article 50 of the Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1995(1) (requirement for dispute resolution arrangements) and the Occupational Pension Schemes (Internal Dispute Resolution Procedures) (Consequential and Miscellaneous amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008(2).

(6) The period of service referred to in paragraph (1) does not, subject to article 81A (transfer of accrued rights under the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme to special members of this scheme) or article 84C (converting membership from standard membership to special membership – special pensioner members) of Part 12, include any period of service in respect of which the person paid—

(a) pension contributions under the FPS;

(b) pension contributions under this Scheme as a standard member;

(c) special pension contributions under this Scheme as a special member in relation to service during the limited period which the person elected to purchase following an application under article 65A of this Part.

(7) Where paragraph (1) applies—

(a) subject to article 66A(11), mandatory special period pension contributions must be paid in respect of the person’s service during the mandatory special period; and

(b) mandatory special period pension contributions must be paid for the period required by article 66A(12), where a person has elected to transfer their accrued rights in the FPS to their special membership.

(8) Subject to paragraph (14), within three months of the second initial date, the Board must use reasonable endeavours to notify that they may be so entitled all those existing employees and former employees employed during the special employment period who either—

(a) may be entitled to join this Scheme as a special member; or

(b) are existing special members who may be entitled to purchase service during the extended limited period.

(9) A person may apply to the Board by which the person was employed during the special employment period for a statement of—

(a) the service in respect of which the person may become entitled to pay contributions under this article; and

(b) the mandatory special period pension contributions which the person would be required to pay in respect of that service.

(10) Subject to paragraph (14), an application must be made—

(a) within six months of receiving the notification under paragraph (8); or

(b) if no such notification has been received, within nine months of the second initial date.

(11) An application under paragraph (9) must be in writing and must state—

(a) the date on which the applicant took up employment as a retained firefighter;

(b) where the applicant has left that employment, the date on which the applicant left;

(c) where the applicant took up employment as a regular firefighter, the date on which the applicant took up that employment;

(d) if the applicant joined this Scheme as a standard member or joined the FPS, the date on which the applicant joined the Scheme and, if it was the case, the date on which the applicant made an election not to pay pension contributions under article 8 of Part 2 of this Scheme or under article 59 of the FPS (as the case may be); and

(e) if the applicant has already joined this Scheme as a special member, the date on which the applicant joined this Scheme and the period of service the person has already elected to purchase under article 66A.

(12) The Board must determine a person’s service and pensionable pay during the extended limited period, and the person’s special pension contributions payable in respect of such service, in accordance with article 65C.

(13) Subject to paragraph (14), within three months of receiving an application under paragraph (9), the Board must give the applicant a notice setting out—

(a) the period of service during the extended limited period which the applicant may purchase;

(b) the amount of special pension contributions payable in respect of the mandatory special period;

(c) the amount of special pension contributions payable in respect of the remainder of the person’s service during the extended limited period; and

(d) the pensionable pay and in appropriate cases the final pensionable pay which the Board has determined was paid during the extended limited period.

(14) Where it is not reasonably practicable to comply with any requirement set out in this article within the period specified, the Board or applicant as the case may be must comply with that requirement as soon as reasonably practicable after the end of that period, but this is subject to article 66B(13) (date by which election to purchase special service will cease to take effect).

(15) In a case where a member makes an application under paragraph (10)(b) after 30th April 2025, the Board must consult the Scheme Actuary when preparing the notice under paragraph (13).

Purchase of service during the extended limited period – supplemental provision

65C.— (1) This article applies for the purposes of determining a person’s service and pensionable pay during the extended limited period, and the person’s special pension contributions payable in respect of such service.

(2) In relation to that part of a person’s service during the extended limited period which falls on or after 1st July 2000, the Board must determine that period of the person’s service and pensionable pay during that period in accordance with paragraphs (7) to (12) of article 65A, but for the purposes of this paragraph, references to “the limited period” in those paragraphs are to be read as if they were references to “the extended limited period”.

(3) In relation to that part of a person’s service during the extended limited period before 1st July 2000, the Board must determine that period of the person’s service and pensionable pay during that period in accordance with paragraphs (4) to (9) of this article.

(4) The Board may determine the period of the person’s service and pensionable pay during the extended limited period from their records.

(5) Where the Board is not able to determine the period of the person’s service or pensionable pay during the extended limited period from their records, the person may provide the Board with documents to assist them to determine the person’s period of service and pensionable pay during the extended limited period and the Board may determine the period of the person’s service and pensionable pay from those documents.

(6) The Board must determine the person’s period of pensionable service during the extended limited period, and, in particular, may determine that the person has no service during the extended limited period if the Board does not hold records of that person’s service for that period, and the person cannot provide the Board with the necessary documents.

(7) Where the Board does not hold records of that person’s pay for that period, and the person cannot provide the Board with the necessary documents, the Board must—

(a) determine the person’s pensionable pay for that period from the records which they hold and their local experience; or

(b) apply the default assumption if a determination under sub-paragraph (a)—

(i) is not possible, or

(ii) is a determination that the person’s retained pensionable pay for the period was less than 25% of the pensionable pay of a whole-time regular firefighter employed in a similar role with equivalent qualifying service.

(8) In paragraph (7), the default assumption is that the person’s retained pensionable pay for the period was equal to 25% of the pensionable pay of a whole-time regular firefighter employed in a similar role with equivalent qualifying service.

(9) Where the Board estimates the person’s pensionable pay under paragraph (7) and does not hold records of that person’s rank, and the person cannot provide the Board with documents to assist them to determine the person’s rank, the Board may assume that the person held the rank of firefighter for the purposes of estimating pensionable pay.

(10) The Board must calculate the amount of the special pension contributions payable in respect of special pensionable service during the extended limited period by applying a rate determined by the Scheme Actuary having regard to the rate required by paragraph (1A) of article 63 (pension contributions) for the appropriate period for the person’s pensionable pay.”.

(4) In article 66A (election to purchase service during the limited period)—

(a) in the heading, after “the limited period” insert “or the extended limited period”;

(b) in paragraph (1), after “this Scheme” insert “or purchase additional service during the extended limited period”;

(c) in paragraph (2), after sub-paragraph (b), insert—

“(c) under article 20 (commutation: small pensions) of Part 3.”;

(d) in paragraph (3), after “this Scheme” insert “or purchase additional service during the extended limited period”;

(e) for paragraph (4), substitute—

“(4) The mandatory special period pension contributions may be paid by way of a lump sum contribution or may be paid by periodic contributions which must be calculated in accordance with tables provided by the Scheme Actuary so as to discharge the person’s liability as follows—

(a) over a period of 10 years, in relation to special period pension contributions which relate to service on or after 1 July 2000;

(b) over a period of 20 years, in relation to special period pension contributions which relate to service before 1 July 2000.”;

(f) in paragraph (6), after “a portion of his pension under”, insert “paragraph (8) of article 11A (special member’s ordinary pension) or paragraph (10) of article 12A (retrospective award on ill-health retirement)”;

(g) in paragraphs (7) and (7A), after “this Scheme” insert “or purchase additional service during the extended limited period”;

(h) for paragraph (8), substitute—

“(8) The mandatory special period pension contributions may be paid by way of a lump sum contribution or may be paid by periodic contributions which must be calculated in accordance with tables provided by the Scheme Actuary so as to discharge the person’s liability as follows—

(a) over a period of 10 years, in relation to special period pension contributions which relate to service on or after 1 July 2000;

(b) over a period of 20 years, in relation to special period pension contributions which relate to service before 1 July 2000.”;

(i) in paragraph (10), after “a portion of his pension under”, insert “paragraph (8) of article 11A (special member’s ordinary pension), paragraph (10) of article 12A (retrospective award on ill-health retirement)”.

(5) In article 66B (election to purchase service during the limited period: supplemental provision)—

(a) in the heading, after “the limited period” insert “or the extended limited period”;

(b) for paragraph (1), substitute—

“(1) Subject to paragraphs (12), (13) and (14), an election under article 66A must be made by giving written notice to the Board, which must be given—

(a) where the Board gave notice under article 65A(13), during the period of four months beginning with the date on which such notice was given; or

(b) where the Board gave notice under article 65B(8), during the period of six months beginning with the date on which such notice was given.”;

(c) in paragraph (3), after “under article 65A(13)” insert “or article 65B(13) as the case may be”;

(d) after paragraph (4), insert—

“(4A) Where a person is required under paragraph (2), or has chosen under paragraph (4), (8) or (9), of article 66A, to pay a lump sum contribution, this sum must be paid in full (subject to any deduction from the lump sum pursuant to paragraph (2), (6) or (10) of article 66A) before the pension to which the lump sum relates comes into payment.”;

(e) in sub-paragraphs (7)(a) and (b), after “the limited period” insert “or the extended limited period”;

(f) in paragraph (12), after “paragraph (1)” insert “(a)”;

(g) after paragraph 12, insert—

“(13) Subject to paragraph (12), where it is not reasonably practicable to comply with the requirement in paragraph (1)(b) within the period specified, the election must be given by written notice as soon as reasonably practicable after the end of that period but in any event may not take effect after 30th April 2025.

(14) Where a person did not receive a notification from the Board under article 65B(8) of this Part, despite the Board using reasonable endeavours to notify eligible persons as required by that paragraph, an election under paragraph (1) may take effect after 30th April 2025.”.

(6) After article 66C (election to purchase service: provisional enrolment), insert—

“Purchase of service during the extended limited period – total pensionable service

66D.— (1) This article applies where—

(a) a person joined this Scheme as a special member or as a standard member in respect of service which that person could otherwise reckon as special pensionable service and purchased service following an application under article 65A;

(b) that person purchased additional service under article 65 at the same time as the election under article 65A;

(c) that person elects to purchase service in respect of the extended limited period under article 65B; and

(d) the addition of the period of service in respect of the extended limited period to the member’s special pensionable service (within the meaning in article 56A(1)) would result in a period exceeding 30 years.

(2) The Board must revise the election to purchase additional service under article 65, in accordance with paragraph (3), so that the total special pensionable service does not exceed 30 years by the member’s normal retirement age.

(3) The period by which the total special pensionable service would exceed 30 years (“the excess service”) at the member’s normal retirement age is to be deducted from the additional service which the member elected to purchase under article 65.

(4) Any contributions paid by the member in respect of the excess service are to be deducted from the contributions due in respect of the service in respect of the extended limited period under article 65B.

(5) Where the contributions paid by the member in respect of the excess service exceed the contributions due in respect of the service purchased under article 65B, the Board is to refund the excess contributions to the member.

Compensation deduction

66E.— (1) The Board must deduct from a special member’s mandatory special period pension contributions an amount calculated in accordance with this article (the “compensation deduction”) where a special member—

(a) elects to pay mandatory special period pension contributions in respect of the special member’s service during the mandatory special period in accordance with article 66A, in relation to service purchased following an application under article 65B; and

(b) provides the statement referred to at paragraph (5).

(2) The compensation deduction must be calculated on the advice of the Scheme Actuary and must be equal to the amount of tax relief on mandatory special period pension contributions to which the special member would have been entitled in the compensation scenario described in paragraph (3) (“the compensation scenario”), together with interest calculated at the past interest rate and applied to that amount of tax relief as described under article 66A(13), taking into account any tax relief on mandatory special period pension contributions that has been received through PAYE.

(3) The compensation scenario means that it is assumed that the special member—

(a) had been entitled to join this Scheme as a special member on the first day of the mandatory special period;

(b) from that date, had paid the special period pension contributions in accordance with article 63(1A), deducted from each instalment of the member’s pensionable pay in accordance with article 63(2); and

(c) tax relief on the special period pension contributions at the rate set out in paragraph (4) had been applied at the time each instalment of pensionable pay had been paid.

(4) The rate of tax relief which must be applied in the compensation scenario is—

(a) where a special member establishes, with such supporting evidence as the Board may reasonably require, that the rate of tax relief which would have applied to the special member in the compensation scenario is a higher tax rate, that higher tax rate; or

(b) in any other case, the basic rate of tax that would have applied to the special member during the mandatory special period.

(5) In order to be entitled to the compensation deduction, the special member must provide a statement to the Board that the special member will not claim tax relief in respect of the mandatory special period pension contributions.”.

Commencement Information

I1 Sch. para. 6 in operation at 31.10.2023, see reg. 1

(1)

S.R. 1995 No 3213 (N.I. 22); section 50 was substituted by Article 250 of the Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 (S.I. 2005 No 255 (N.I. 1)) and amended by the Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2008 (Chapter 1).

(2)

S.R. 2008 No.116.