Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that (a) the Government Actuary Department and (b) fire service pension providers have adequate tools to calculate pension entitlements for retired fire service workers.

The Home Office works closely with the Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) to ensure that all actuarial advice, guidance and tools provided to Fire and Rescue Authorities (FRAs) actively reflect changes to the firefighters’ pension schemes and regulations.

GAD, in partnership with the Home Office, support FRAs by providing appropriate actuarial guidance to pensions administrators, ensuring they have the means to accurately calculate pension entitlements for retired firefighters, where necessary.

While the Home Office has responsibility for overarching policy and legislative changes to the firefighters’ pension scheme regulations, the firefighters’ pension scheme is locally administered by each individual FRA.