Firemen's pensions have a long history - dating back to before 1925. In those
days provisions for the pensions of firemen were contained either in local
Acts or in the Police Pensions Act of 1921 as at that time some policemen
were employed either wholly or partly as firefighters!
There have been many changes to the pension scheme since those early days
and the current scheme is contained in a document known as "The Firemen's
Pension Scheme Order 1992". Although published in 1992 there have been
a number of improvements and changes to the scheme since that time.
The Firemen's Pension Scheme (FPS) is a 'defined benefits' scheme. In other
words, members pay a set contribution to the scheme and receive benefits based on service and pay.
The Pension Scheme is administered and awards paid by The City of Edinburgh Council on behalf of Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service.
A new Firefighters’ Pension Scheme (FPS) was set up at the end of March 2007. This new scheme was backdated to take effect from 6 April 2006.
The new scheme has a lower contribution rate: 8.5% of salary instead of the 11% rate payable in the old FPS. It has a normal retirement age of 60. It offers some benefits that the old scheme did not, such as pensions for unmarried partners.
All regular firefighters appointed after 6 April 2006 are automatically made members of the new scheme with effect from their start date, but can choose to opt out.
Regular firefighters appointed before 6 April 2006 had the option of
Firefighters who opted out the old scheme can choose to join the new scheme if they wish.
Retained firefighters appointed before 6 April 2006 can join the new scheme with effect from that date, but will have to pay to make up the contributions they have missed. Or they can join from a future date.
Retained firefighters appointed on or after 6 April 2006 will automatically be made members of the new scheme either from the date of appointment, paying arrears of contributions if necessary, or otherwise from a future date. They can choose to opt out.
Further information is available from the Fire Brigades Union website.
Further information on Firefighters Pensions can be found by visiting the
websites of the Department
for Communities and Local Government and the Scottish
Public Pensions Agency.