The Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Local Pension Board of the Firefighters' Pension Scheme met on Monday 1 June 2026 to discuss governance and policy updates, administration of the firefighter pension schemes, and a review of risks. The Board noted the contents of the reports presented.

Governance and Policy Update

Alistair Wickens, Technical Specialist for Pensions Fund Policy and Governance, presented an update on the fund's compliance with the General Code of Practice following an independent review. He reported that out of 63 identified areas of partial compliance, 28 had been completed, with 15 rated as green and on track for the 31 August deadline. Twenty actions were rated amber, some of which were dependent on third-party input. A draft Recruitment and Retention Policy for the Fire Pension Board had been completed and required approval from the Staff and Pensions Committee. Updates to the breaches policy were outlined in the report but would require approval from the Staff and Pensions Committee, and comments would be sought from members of the Local Pension Board before being finalised. Revised criteria for identifying and mitigating risks were also outlined in the report. The third-party review had recommended an update to the Firefighter Pension Board terms of reference. These were outlined in the report and related mainly to recruitment and retention of members, but would require approval from Full Council as an update to the Council Constitute would be needed. Updates to the member code of conduct were outlined in the report.

Lisa Eglesfield, Pensions Administration Service Manager, provided an update on regulatory changes. Regulatory changes to the second Matthew project had taken effect from 1 April, relating to death grants and missed lump sum payments. The project deadline had been extended to 31 March 2027. A new policy relating to employee contribution changes had been issued and was due to be implemented if approved at the next meeting of the Staff and Pensions Committee.

Firefighter Pension Schemes Administration Update

Lisa Eglesfield also provided an update on the administration of the Firefighter Pension Schemes. She reported on the second retained Matthews exercise, where 110 expressions of interest had been received out of those identified as being in scope. Calculations had been completed for 104, and 88 had sent through information to allow the process to go ahead via the administrators. A further three members had asked for no further action to be taken. Regarding the age discrimination remedy, the Fund was continuing to refund some active members of the 2006 scheme who had had their ABS/RSS and had now chosen to claim the refund. Helen Scargill, Client Relations Manager at West Yorkshire Pension Fund, noted that recruitment for new pensions officers was ongoing, with some senior positions and a second team manager appointed to the fire pensions team. Production on 2025 Annual Benefit Statements (ABSs) was due to close to enable background work on 2026 ABSs to begin.

Risk Review

Lisa Eglesfield stated that the risk register had been updated in two areas in the most recent quarter. The score for likelihood of inability to keep up with demand had been updated to five to be in line with the main Warwickshire Pension Fund risk register, although the residual risk scoring remained unchanged. A further risk control against fraud and corruption had been added following the introduction of the Pension Scams Action Group, although this had not affected the risk scoring.

Any Other Business

No additional items of business were discussed. The meeting concluded at 2:50 pm.