The Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Local Pension Board of the Firefighters' Pension Scheme met to discuss pension administration, governance, and risk management. A key focus was on updates to the Fire Pension Administration, including performance against key indicators and the ongoing Second Retained Exercise. The board was also scheduled to review and comment on governance and regulatory changes, the risk register, and the forward plan for future meetings.

Fire Pension Administration Update

The board was scheduled to note and comment on the Fire Pension Administration Update, with reference to reports provided by the West Yorkshire Pension Fund (WYPF) for March and April 2025.

Key discussion points included:

• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): While the West Yorkshire Pension Fund generally achieved 100% on KPIs, there were three exceptions:
  • Deferred Benefits Set Up on Leaving: This target was not met due to high volumes of work, though members received confirmation of their deferred benefits within the statutory timeframe.
  • Pension Estimate: The target was not met due to high volumes of requests, with some estimates taking 8-10 weeks to process. Priority was given to estimates with retirement dates within three months.
  • Set Up New Spouse Pension: This target was missed due to delays in receiving completed forms from spouses.
• Second Retained Exercise: This exercise allows Retained Firefighters to buy back pension service in the 2006 scheme prior to 1 July 2000, subject to certain criteria. Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Authority identified 144 people in scope for the project, with 84 expressing interest. As of 1 April 2025, information had been sent to 51 members, and 34 had returned positive elections for processing by the West Yorkshire Pension Fund. > The work for this exercise must be completed by April 2025 under current regulations, however a government consultation was launched in January 2025 around extending the project deadline until March 2026. While this is not set in legislation at present, MHCLG have indicated that regulations will be amended. As such, fire authorities should continue to calculate options for members in scope. *MHCLG refers to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, a UK government department[^1]. [^1]: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government was renamed the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities in 2021.
• Age Discrimination Remedy: The West Yorkshire Pension Fund was unable to implement the age discrimination remedy for affected members by the statutory deadline of 31 March 2025, resulting in a breach report to the Pension Regulator. The West Yorkshire Pension Fund was scheduled to communicate directly with affected members regarding the revised timeline.

Governance and Policy Update

The board was scheduled to discuss governance and regulatory updates affecting Firefighter Pension Schemes.

• TPR Code of Practice Review: The Pension Administration Service was undertaking a review of the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme’s governance arrangements against the Pension Regulator’s Code of Practice. This review was to be completed using the AON Code of Practice modeler tool, with an independent assessment scheduled for June 2025.
• Age Discrimination Remedy: The Local Government Association had clarified actions for scheme managers exercising discretion under section 29 (10b) regarding the implementation date for the age discrimination remedy. Guidance for applying the remedy to non-club transfers, cross border transfers, and prospective divorce cases had been published.
• Confirmation of annual revaluation, earnings and pension increase: HM Treasury had confirmed a 1.7% increase for public service pensions, in line with the Consumer Prices Index, and revaluation rates for CARE accounts[^2]. [^2]: CARE accounts are 'Career Average Revalued Earnings' pension schemes.
• Neonatal Care Leave and Pay: Regulations were coming into force on 6 April 2025, introducing a new statutory entitlement for employed parents of children receiving neonatal care.
• Pension Dashboards: The Pension Dashboards Programme had issued updated data standards, technical standards, reporting standards and code of connection. Fire and rescue authorities must comply with these as they prepare to connect to the pension’s dashboard ecosystem.
• Pension Board Training: The Local Government Association had launched Local Pension Board Training, with dates available in September 2025 and January 2026. Refresher training was also available in August 2025.

Risk Register

The board was scheduled to consider and comment on the risk register. The register had been updated to reflect the Inability to meet demand risk, with the residual risk score for likelihood increasing due to delays in delivering the age discrimination remedy and its impact on future work. Other minor changes to the risk register included updates to risk identification or risk controls that did not affect the risk score.

A risk map had been created to aid in reading the full risk register.

Forward Plan

The board was scheduled to discuss the forward plan, which outlines items for review and discussion at future meetings, as well as the training plan for board members. The forward plan had been updated to include items scheduled for future meetings. Members were encouraged to complete the Pension Regulator’s toolkit training, and officers were available to assist with access if required. A training log for board members was maintained, and members were asked to liaise with officers to confirm training attended, watched, or undertaken.