Dear Brother/Sister,
You will be aware that the FBU has been supporting 'Retired and Out Of Trade Members' in a grievance lodged with the Pensions Ombudsman concerning the process by which the commutation factors applied to the 1992 Firefighters' Pension Scheme (FPS) were updated.
The High Court also considered the same issue as it applied to the Police Pension Scheme, and ruled that the new factors involved should have been effective from the date that the Government Actuary's Department (GAD) produced them and not the date when the Home Office accepted them. The reason for the result was that the wording of the relevant regulations imposed a duty on GAD to produce the factors, and did not give the Home Office discretion whether or not to accept them.
Consistent with that Judgment the FBU managed to achieve a position whereby the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) backdated the new factors from the date applied to the Police pension Scheme (December 2006) for the Firefighters' Pension Scheme to 22 August 2006. The Judgment did not however look at the other questions that we had raised: why was there a delay between 1998 and 2005 before the factors were re-examined.
The FBU maintain that this delay amounted to 'maladministration', which is a matter within the Ombudsman's remit but not the courts'.
The Ombudsman has had its jurisdiction to consider complaints questioned resulting in an appeal being lodged by GAD by way of judicial review proceedings, in which the defendant (the Pension Ombudsman) is the person who has exceeded his or her statutory powers.
The FBU is named as an interested party, meaning a party who has an interest in the outcome and who can make their own arguments in the proceedings, but who need not do so if they have nothing to add. The FBU will not be required to make any separate arguments as our position is consistent with that of the Pension Ombudsman.
What this does mean is that the investigations against GAD and against the DCLG, which have been on hold pending the outcome of this appeal, can be progressed once this Judgment has been handed down.
Although we have no firm date for any Judgment we expect this to be handed down by the end of July. You will be given more information as it becomes available.
Yours in Unity,
Sean Starbuck
National Officer
2012HOC0220SS
Circular ref
2012HOC0220SS
