Hampshire County Council HIWFRA Firefighters’ Pension Board Meeting

Apologies received from Tor Strowger and Richard North.

Members were mindful of their duty to disclose at the meeting any Disclosable Pecuniary Interest they had in any matter on the agenda for the meeting, where that interest was not already in the Authority’s register of interests, and their ability to disclose any other personal interests in any such matter that they might have wished to disclose.

No declarations made by Members.

The minutes of the last meeting were reviewed and agreed.

There were no deputations.

The Chairman welcomed Caroline House, who has replaced James Yates as the HR representative at the Pension Board meetings.

The Chairman informed the Board that he attempted to attend the LGA Chairman meeting but was called away. He assured the board that he plans to attend the next meeting.

The Board received the Legislation and Local Government Association (LGA) Update from the Chief Financial Officer (item 6 in the minute book).

The Board was advised that the standard report summarised bulletins and served as a check to ensure the team was actioning everything correctly. There was an ongoing consultation on the employee contributions rate, as the current contributions were falling short of the scheme's requirements. The deadline for responses was the end of January, and a response could be sent on behalf of the Pension Board if needed. The target date for implementation was October 2025.

Paragraph 10 discussed the McCloud remedy, noting that good progress was being made, except for contingent decisions and compensation. Since the report, it was updated that people who opted out of the 1991 scheme should be paused. No updates had been received from the LHA or Home Office regarding compensation. There was a desire to avoid a compensation scheme that provided incorrect information, as eligibility was still unclear, and questions could not be answered. A resolution was not expected by May 31.

There was a technical consultation regarding individuals who had passed away before resolution. Currently, they were not entitled to payment. This was being addressed, and an extension to 2026 was being requested due to slow progress. The extension was likely to be approved, as everyone would be reporting breaches monthly. Progress was still being made towards the original deadline.

The Scheme Advisory Board was releasing new training opportunities and hoped to add new dates for 2025. Work was still progressing on the Pension Dashboard. The connection date was currently October 2025, but it was not expected to go live then due to ongoing issues with State Pension data.

The Board learned that the LGA had responded to the inheritance tax and death benefit issue. The Chairman informed the Board that they were one of the few authorities without issues, as all necessary information had been provided. Other services were not in the same position, so it was a positive situation to be in.

RESOLVED

The content of the report was noted by the HIWFRA Firefighters' Pension Board.

The Board received the Fire Pension Board Status Report and Risk Register Review from the Chief Financial Officer (item 7 in the minute book).

The Board were advised that there hasn’t been much communications work carried out since the last meeting, but it is the priority for the next few months, especially as there is a lot of confusion over the Matthews remedy. The Chief Financial Officer advised that she and Caroline House attended an LGA Consultation meeting on Employee Contributions. The McCloud Working Groups are continuing but may cease after compensation issues are resolved.

The Board were informed that there is a slow but steady increase in Pension Portal registrations, up 10% from the last meeting. Some people opt out of the portal to receive paper copies of information instead. Hampshire Pension Services only post pay slips out when changes are made, not when it is the same information, but employees can request them. This is an efficiency measure. The Board learned that the team continues to make progress. The breach was reported and acknowledged, with no consequence. There are still 121 statements due to be sent out to Service Members who retired between 2015 and 2023. These are expected to be sent out by 31 March at the latest.

Lessons have been learned from the first issuing of statements on the Matthews remedy. Statements will now be sent more gradually and letters are being updated to ensure they are easier to understand. Letters will go out to Pensioner Members to advise how to claim and will then move on to other issues. The form to be completed is now very simple, and while queries are expected in response, the smaller batches should make this easier to manage. 1068 Members are eligible and only 21 have not been located as yet. 410 said they were interested, so the plan is to go back to the other 600 to follow up.

There is an open Consultation on Matthews which closes on 17 February. It covers the inconsistent treatment for deceased members' entitlement. Within the original options exercise, Members could convert 2006 to special 2006. If people were deferred, they could convert so they had reduced benefits. Legislation wasn’t clear at the time but it now is and is being resolved. There was concern the whole exercise would need to be rerun but this isn’t believed to be true anymore. The deadline to complete is March 2026. The Consultation will be responded to in a technical way. A query has been put to the LGA to ask practical questions about how certain things will work around deceased firefighters.

The 2015 Firefighters scheme aims to contribute 13.2% and valuation suggests achieving 13%, and the Home Office needs to work that out. Our proposed response is Annex A. The simple summary is that employee contributions need to increase, so they will be less in October than in September. Goals are to achieve target yields for 2025-2027 and future-proof the scheme. Work has been done on participation and Opt Outs. Opt Outs tend to be from On Call rather than Full Time. There is a need to ensure the Scheme is administratively sustainable and to ensure due regard is given to the Public Sector Equality Duty. Within the local response, contributions need to be stable and comprehensible as fluctuation and misunderstanding create issues.

There is a solution on tiering employee contributions, but higher earners pay proportionally more than lower earners, and it needs noting that higher earners get more tax relief. If higher and lower earners paid the same amount, it would cost the higher earners less. The Board discussed the options and agreed that the third option (marginal rates) would make administration more difficult and more difficult for individuals to manage, knowing they are paying the right amount. Cllr Price advised the Board that the LGA had responded recommending option two. The Board agreed that option one is preferred.

The Chief Financial Officer flagged that whole-time equivalent could be disadvantaging part-time female firefighters, but this is a much bigger issue for Police, so there is a reliance on the Home Office to quality check proposals. The Chair suggested making contact with local offices of Trade Unions to ensure they can comment.

The Board were advised that there is no update to the Risk Register for this meeting, but it was agreed that the Employee Contribution issue be added.

RESOLVED

The content of the report was noted by the HIWFRA Firefighters' Pension Board.