Issue - meetings

Neil Buxton (Technical Specialist Pensions Fund Policy and Governance) summarised the report.He stated the only updates are regarding the McCloud and Firefighter’s Pension Scheme (FPS). A complaint was upheld by the Employment Tribunal in December 2019 which ruled that the changes made to the FPS in 2015 discriminated members because of their age and they should be put back into the old scheme. Neil Buxton concluded that they are waiting for guidance from the Home Office and Local Government Association regarding this. 

In response to Councillor Stevens, Neil Buxton stated they are not sure what the resolution will be with regards to the firefighters; they could remain in the old scheme and this could be defined as, when that person retires and how cost effective it is. He added that there have got to be the adjustments to the contributions that the employer and employee made. Neil Buxton continued that the Local Government Pension Scheme cost is interminable, and this has been reflected in the evaluations with contingencies put in place.

Chris Norton added that the complexity of the scheme was observed over the years regarding the care scheme and McCloud. He concluded that McCloud has the potential to be another layer of complication and when things stack up, the scheme gets more difficult.

Resolved:

That the Staff and Pensions Committee note and comment on the report.