Office of Public Sector Information
SCHEDULE 1 continued PART 9
1.—(1) Where a person is in receipt of an injury pension, the fire and rescue authority shall, at such intervals as they think fit, consider whether the degree of his disablement has substantially altered; if they find that it has, the pension shall be reassessed accordingly.
(2) Where the authority, on consideration under paragraph (1), find that his disability has ceased, the injury pension shall cease with immediate effect.
(3) This rule ceases to have effect with respect to a particular injury pension if, at any time after the expiration of 5 years from the time when it first became payable, the fire and rescue authority so resolve.
2.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), where a person —
(a) is permanently disabled, and
(b) has brought about or contributed to his infirmity by his own default,
the fire and rescue authority may reduce any injury award payable to him by them to not less than half its full amount.
(2) Where—
(a) a pension has been reduced under paragraph (1), and
(b) the amount of the reduced pension is less than that of the notional deferred pension —
(i) if the person is a member of the 1992 Scheme, on his 60th birthday,
(ii) if the person is a member of the 2007 Scheme, on his 65th birthday,
the amount of the reduced pension shall be increased to that of the notional deferred pension.
(3) The notional deferred pension is the deferred pension that would have been payable under rule B5 of the 1992 Scheme(22) or rule 3 of Part 3 of the 2007 Scheme if the person had become entitled to one on the date of his ceasing to serve.
3. The fire and rescue authority by whom a pension under this Scheme is payable may withdraw the whole or any part of the pension, except a pension under Part 3 (awards on death: spouses and civil partners), for any period during which the person entitled to it is employed as a firefighter by any fire and rescue authority.
4.—(1) n the circumstances specified in paragraph (2) the fire and rescue authority by whom a pension under this Scheme is payable may withdraw the pension in whole or in part and permanently or temporarily as they may specify.
(2) The circumstances are—
(a) that the person entitled to the pension (“the pensioner”) has been convicted of an offence falling within paragraph (3), and in the case of a pension under Part 3, that the offence was committed after the death on which the pensioner became entitled to it, or
(b) that the pensioner has been convicted of an offence committed in connection with his service as an employee of a fire and rescue authority which is certified by the National Assembly for Wales either to have been gravely injurious to the interests of the State or to be liable to lead to serious loss of confidence in the public service.
(3) The offences mentioned in paragraph (2)(a) are—
(a) an offence of treason, and
(b) one or more offences under the Official Secrets Acts 1911 to 1989(23) for which the pensioner has been sentenced on the same occasion to a term of imprisonment of, or to two or more consecutive terms amounting in the aggregate to, at least 10 years.
(4) The fire and rescue authority may, to such extent as they at any time think fit—
(a) apply for the benefit of any dependant of the pensioner, or
(b) restore to the pensioner,
so much of any pension as has been withdrawn under this rule.
5. A person who has been convicted of an offence under subsection (6) of section 34 of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 (acts or omissions for purposes of obtaining awards or other sums), forfeits the whole or part of an award or sum obtained by him under this scheme, as the fire and rescue authority think fit.
1.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), an award payable under this Scheme to or in respect of a person by reason of his having received an injury while employed by a fire and rescue authority is payable by the authority by whom he was employed when he received the injury.
(2) Subject to paragraph (3), where —
(a) an award is payable in respect of a qualifying injury sustained by a person who is employed by more than one authority; and
(b) the injury is of such a nature that it cannot be attributed solely to one employment,
the award shall be paid —
(i) by such one of his employing authorities as may be agreed, or
(ii) by each of them, in such proportion as may be agreed, or
(iii) in default of agreement, in equal proportions.
(3) An award payable to a person in respect of a qualifying injury sustained in the course of his employment with one authority and a different qualifying injury sustained in the course of his employment with another authority shall be paid —
(a) by such one of his employing authorities as may be agreed, or
(b) by each of them, in such proportion as may be agreed, or
(c) in default of agreement, in equal proportions.
2.—(1) While a pension or allowance is payable under this Scheme—
(a) it is payable in respect of each week, and
(b) the fire and rescue authority shall discharge their liability in respect of it by making payments in advance at such reasonable intervals as they may determine,
but payment may be delayed to the extent necessary for determining any question as to the liability of the authority.
(2) Where a person dies after receiving a payment in advance in respect of a pension or allowance, no claim for repayment shall be made on the ground that the payment or any part of it is referable to a period after his death.
(3) Where, after receiving a payment in advance in respect of a pension under Part 3, a person marries, remarries, forms a civil partnership or a subsequent civil partnership, no claim for repayment shall be made on the ground that the payment or any part of it is referable to a period after the marriage took place or, as the case may be, the civil partnership was formed.
(4) Subject to paragraphs (5) and (6), pensions under Part 3 and allowances under Part 4 (“survivors' benefits”) are payable from the date of the death.
(5) Subject to paragraph (6), in the case of a posthumous child any allowance under Part 4 is payable from the date of his birth.
(6) Where the deceased—
(a) was in receipt of a pension, and
(b) died during a period in respect of which he had already received it,
no survivors' benefits are payable before the end of that period.
(7) A gratuity shall be paid in one sum as soon as the entitlement to it arises, except that—
(a) payment may be delayed to the extent necessary for determining any question as to the liability of the fire and rescue authority, and
(b) if the authority are satisfied that it would be to the advantage of the person entitled, they may pay a gratuity in instalments of such reasonable amounts and over such reasonable period as they think fit.
3.—(1) This rule applies where, in respect of any particular period, a person is entitled to—
(a) two or more pensions or allowances under this Scheme; or
(b) a pension or allowance under this Scheme and a pension or allowance under the 1992 Scheme or the 2007 Scheme.
(2) A pension payable —
(a) under rule B9 of the 1992 Scheme(24) or rule 11 of Part 3 of the 2007 Scheme to the beneficiary of an allocation,
(b) under rule IA1 of the 1992 Scheme(25) or rule 1 of Part 6 of the 2007 Scheme (pension credit member’s entitlement to pension), or
(c) under rule J1 of the 1992 Scheme(26) or rule 1 of Part 15 of the 2007 Scheme (guaranteed minimum pensions),
is not a pension for the purposes of this rule.
(3) Subject to paragraph (4) and rule L4 of the 1992 Scheme or, as the case may be, rule 4 of Part 14 of the 2007 Scheme, where this rule applies only one of the pensions or allowances shall be paid in respect of the period in question; if they are for the time being unequal in amount, the one to be paid is the largest of them.
(4) For the purposes of this rule, where a person is entitled—
(a) under rule 1 of Part 2 to an injury pension and also —
(i) under rule B1, B2, B3 or B5 of the 1992 Scheme to an ordinary, short service, ill-health or deferred pension, or
(ii) under rule 1, 2 or 3 of Part 3 of the 2007 Scheme to an ordinary, ill-health or deferred person, or
(b) to a pension in respect of employment with a fire and rescue authority and also to a pension as the surviving spouse or civil partner of an employee of a fire and rescue authority, or
(c) to pensions as the surviving child of both parents who were employed by a fire and rescue authority,
those pensions shall be treated as one.
(5) Where—
(a) a person who is employed as a firefighter by more than one fire and rescue authority sustains a qualifying injury; and
(b) it cannot be established that the injury is attributable to only one of those employments,
a single award shall be paid under rule 2 of Part 8; and the award shall be payable by the fire and rescue authorities in such proportion as may be agreed or, in default of agreement, in equal shares.
(6) If a transfer value or cash equivalent is paid, any award to which the person became entitled under Part 2 on ceasing to serve as a regular firefighter ceases to be payable.
4.—(1) In this rule—
“B3 award” means an ill-health award under rule B3 of the 1992 Scheme;
“injury award” means an injury award under Part 2 of this Scheme;
“Part 8 award” means an injury award which is payable by virtue of rule 2 of Part 8 of this Scheme; and
“rule 2 award” means an ill-health pension under rule 2 of Part 3 of the 2007 Scheme.
(2) This paragraph applies to a person employed as both a regular firefighter and a retained firefighter (whether by the same fire and rescue authority or by different fire and rescue authorities) who—
(a) in respect of his retained employment, was employed before 6 April 2006, and
(b) is entitled —
(i) from the fire and rescue authority which employs him as a regular firefighter, to an injury award, a B3 award, a rule 2 award, or more than one of those awards; and
(ii) from the fire and rescue authority which employs him as a retained firefighter, to a Part 8 award.
(3) The fire and rescue authority which employs a person to whom paragraph (2) applies as a regular firefighter shall pay (in full) the B3 award or, as the case may be, the rule 2 award and, subject to paragraph (4), the authority which employs him as a retained firefighter shall pay only the injury element of the Part 8 award.
(4) Where the amount of the B3 award or, as the case may be, the rule 2 award is less than the amount which, but for paragraph (3), would have been paid to the person as the ill-health element of the Part 8 award, the fire and rescue authority which employs him as a retained firefighter shall pay him an amount equal to the amount of the difference.
(5) A firefighter who is entitled to both an injury award and a Part 8 award shall receive, in respect of those awards, a single award of an amount equal to the injury award or the Part 8 award, whichever is greater; and rule 1(2) of this Part shall apply as regards the payment of that single award.
5.—(1) This rule applies where—
(a) a person employed as both a regular firefighter and a retained firefighter dies (whether during or after such employment); and
(b) a qualifying injury sustained in the course of such employment is certified by an independent qualified medical practitioner as the cause of death; and
(c) in consequence of the person’s death, another person becomes entitled not only to an award of a description mentioned in paragraph (2), but also to an award of a description mentioned in paragraph (3).
(2) The descriptions mentioned in this paragraph are—
(a) a spouse’s or civil partner’s special award under rule 1 of Part 3,
(b) a spouse’s or civil partner’s augmented award under rule 2 of that Part,
(c) a child’s special allowance under rule 1 of Part 4, and
(d) a child’s special gratuity under rule 2 of that Part.
(3) The descriptions mentioned in this paragraph are—
(a) a spouse’s or civil partner’s ordinary pension under rule C1 of the 1992 Scheme,
(b) a spouse’s or civil partner’s accrued pension under rule C4 of that Scheme,
(c) a spouse’s or civil partner’s requisite benefit and temporary pension under rule C6 of that Scheme,
(d) a spouse’s or civil partner’s award under rule C7 of that Scheme (award where no other award is payable),
(e) a child’s ordinary allowance under rule D1 of that Scheme, and
(f) a child’s accrued allowance under rule D4 of that Scheme.
(4) The award of the description in paragraph (3) shall be paid in full, and the award of the description in paragraph (2) shall not be paid.
(5) Where the amount of the award paid to a person in accordance with paragraph (4) is less than the amount which, but for that paragraph, would have been paid to him by way of an award of a description in paragraph (2), the fire and rescue authority which employed the deceased as a retained firefighter shall pay an amount equal to the amount of the difference.
Rule B5 was amended by S.I. 2006/1672, Sch. 1 para 15. Back [22]
Rule B9 of the 1992 Scheme was amended by S.I. 2006/1672 Sch. 1 para 19 and Sch. 2 para 2(b)(i) Back [24]
Rule IA1 was inserted by S.I. 2001/3691. Back [25]
Rule JI was amended by S.I. 2006/1672, Sch. 1 para 66 and Sch. 2 para 21. Back [26]
The Firefighters' Compensation Scheme (Wales) Order 2007