Office of Public Sector Information
1.—(1) Where a person is in receipt of an injury pension, the Board shall consider, at such intervals as it thinks fit, whether the degree of his disablement has substantially altered; if it finds that it has, the pension shall be reassessed accordingly.
(2) Where the Board, on consideration under paragraph (1), find that his disability has ceased, the injury pension shall be terminated 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 Board so resolves.
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 Board 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) when the person attains the age of 60, the amount of the reduced pension is less than that of the notional deferred pension,
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 article 16 of the Pension Scheme if the person had become entitled to one on the date of his ceasing to serve.
3. The Board 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 regular firefighter by any fire and rescue authority within the United Kingdom.
4.—(1) In the circumstances specified in paragraph (2) the Board 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 which is certified by the Secretary of State 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(20) 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 Board 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 paragraph (2) of Article 41 of the Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 (offences), forfeits the whole or part of an award or sum obtained by him under this Scheme, as the Board thinks fit.
1.—(1) While a pension or allowance is payable under this Scheme—
(a) it is payable in respect of each week; and
(b) the Board shall discharge its liability in respect of it by making payments in advance at such reasonable intervals as it may determine,
but payment may be delayed to the extent necessary for determining any question as to the liability of the Board.
(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) a surviving spouse remarries or forms a civil partnership; or
(b) a surviving civil partner forms 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 remarriage 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 Board; and
(b) if the Board is satisfied that it would be to the advantage of the person entitled, it may pay a gratuity in instalments of such reasonable amounts and over such reasonable period as it thinks fit.
2.—(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 Pension Scheme.
(2) A pension payable—
(a) under article 20 of the Pension Scheme to the beneficiary of an allocation;
(b) under article 74 of that Scheme (pension credit member’s entitlement to pension); or
(c) under article 78 of that Scheme (guaranteed minimum pensions),
is not a pension for the purposes of this rule.
(3) Subject to paragraph (4) and article 86 of the Pension 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 under article 13, 14, 15 or 16 of the Pension Scheme to an ordinary, short service, ill-health or deferred pension; or
(b) to a pension in respect of employment with the Board and also to a pension as the surviving spouse or civil partner of an employee of the Board; or
(c) to pensions as the surviving child of both parents who were employed by the Board,
those pensions shall be treated as one.
(5) 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.
3.—(1) This rule applies in relation to a person employed as both a regular firefighter and a retained firefighter who is entitled—
(a) to either an injury award under rule 1 of Part 2, an ill-health award under article 15 of the Pension Scheme, or both; and
(b) to an injury award under Part 2 (by virtue of rule 2 of Part 8) (“the Part 8 award”) and an ill-health award under article 15 of the Pension Scheme.
(2) The Board shall pay the award under article 15 of the Pension Scheme in full and, subject to paragraph (3), shall only pay the injury element of the Part 8 award.
(3) Where the amount awarded under article 15 of the Pension Scheme is less than the amount which, but for paragraph (2), would have been paid to the person as the ill-health element of the Part 8 award, the Board shall pay him an amount equal to the amount of the difference.
(4) A firefighter who is entitled to both an award under rule 1 of Part 2 and a Part 8 award shall receive a single award of an amount equal to the award under that rule or the Part 8 award, whichever is greater; and rule 1(2) shall apply as regards the payment of that single award.
4.—(1) This rule applies where—
(a) a person employed as both a regular 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 a 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 article 25 of the Pension Scheme;
(b) a spouse’s or civil partner’s accrued pension under article 26 of that Scheme;
(c) a spouse’s or civil partner’s requisite benefit and temporary pension under article 28 of that Scheme;
(d) a spouse’s or civil partner’s award under article 29 of that Scheme (award where no other award is payable);
(e) a child’s ordinary allowance under article 33 of that Scheme; and
(f) a child’s accrued allowance under article 34 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 Board shall pay an amount equal to the amount of the difference.
The Firefighters’ Compensation Scheme Order (Northern Ireland) 2007