Fire Services: Pensions

(asked on 8th December 2014) - View Source

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the conclusion in Dr Tony William's report entitled Normal Pension Age for Firefighters, published in December 2012, in paragraph 12.2.6, that more women are likely to drop below the required aerobic fitness standard as they age, what assessment he has made of (a) the ability of women firefighters to maintain aerobic fitness as they age relative to men and (b) whether the provisions of the Firefighters' Pension Scheme (England) Regulations 2014 disadvantage women firefighters relative to men.


Answered by
Penny Mordaunt Portrait
Penny Mordaunt
Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
This question was answered on 11th December 2014

Dr Tony Williams, Medical Director of Working Fit, was commissioned to review the Normal Pension Age for firefighters. Dr Williams found that the decline in fitness for women follows a similar rate to men when activity levels and body mass index are similar. Dr Williams also established that firefighters who remain physically active and maintain a health lifestyle should still be operational at age 60.


Fifty six percent of regular and retained female firefighters are members of the New Firefighters’ Pension Scheme 2006, which already has a Normal Pension Age of 60. These women will see no change to their Normal Pension Age as a result of the reforms. Due to the transitional protections in place, no firefighter will have to work beyond their current Normal Pension Age until beyond 2022.

Reticulating Splines