• The Highways and Byways to the Citadel of Justice;

• In the Haversack;

• The Time Line ~ Application to end of LCFA IDRP;

• The Pensions Ombudsman;

• The Pension Minister ~ Mr.G.Opperman M.P. ;

• A Complicity of ‘Weavers’;

• Helpless Decent Politicians;

• TDPO ~ ‘Determination’ ;

In setting out on a journey to seek Justice, with a former colleague and now friend, a journey which commenced in early 2015, there are certain unusual factors which must be borne in mind, not least of which is the diminishing life span left to these two old disabled FSVs.

For those who have never been involved in activities within which dramatic and sometimes fatal events can overtake the participants, a daily risk we have all lived with in the Fire and Rescue Service, it is difficult for the layperson to comprehend the interdependency with which we literally lean upon each other as we carried out our duties.

Paramount is the understanding that in a personal sense, as opposed to a Service sense, no Firefighter controls the other, because Firefighters are generally free spirited with healthy trenchant opinions on every matter under the sun… influence and arguments , yes, but no one controls the other.

We all knew that our very lives depended on this interdependency, strangely in the moments before commitment to the maelstrom a glance into the eyes would confirm that we all knew we depended on each other should it all go wrong, even more strangely with the human nature we all have, we might not even really know or have worked with the other Firefighter, or even liked each other, but that was how the fates decreed the instant; and such is the real meaning of comradeship, and its ally… trust…all alone with your God as you both advance into the dark unknown.

What follows is the plain man’s guide (The man on the Clapham Omnibus top deck view) to the legal path, the labyrinth,  disabled FSV~FMG and the Bugler have followed on their quest for Justice, and its companion, compassion.

Jointly, following the Bugler’s philosophy which remains … “Aut inveniam viam aut faciam”… “I will find a way or I will make one”.

…sure t’was only a small boulder, sir, and in this life I have been to Hell and back several times …to be sure…

This wonderful painting by Titian says it all (1490-1576), a man who gave the descriptive name Titian to ginger headed girls, like my two wonderful US Granddaughters.

Note the little ‘creatures of the night’, from the LFRS ‘Funny Farm’, peering out from under their rocks and enjoying their evil…

Meantime back to the Labyrinth and Time Line…In the haversack there was, as you might expect, a map(a flexible plan of tactics); then strategic objectives to be achieved at each legal Stage or Phase; and finally a guideline, to retrace the steps, and try a new ‘thought through’ initiative at any time, mostly revealed in the JoT Chapter 17, Go Here.

1. The Appellant, as he is known in the ‘trade’, involving a pension dispute based on a ‘point of law’ which is currently under Judgement before the High Court of Appeal ~ Chancery Division and thus sub judice, and thus precluded from comment by the Bugler, is disabled FSV~FMG formerly an Assistant Divisional Officer in Lancashire County Fire Brigade(LCFB).

2. At this senior rank under the law, Statutory Instrument 1992 No:129, and under his ‘Grey Book’ Terms and Conditions of Service he was entitled to serve until aged 60 which he would have attained on the 17^th December 2003;

3. Following an in-service, no fault accident (‘a qualifying injury’), the LCFA in accepting liability, decided that such was his medical condition that he should be compulsorily discharged from service at 23:59hrs of 22^nd July 1998;

4. The LCFA awarded him, under the terms of his Pension Scheme (S.I. No:129), a (compensating) Rule B3 Pension, and consequentially a (compensating) Rule B4 Injury Award.

5. Uninjured, FMG could have served a further 5 years and 5 months at this senior rank, with the reasonable expectation, that he would attain further promotion.

6. On the 7^th April 2015, for reasons that need not concern us, he calculated that since inception, he was, in error, being paid a Rule B1 Ordinary(time served) pension instead of the compensating, awarded ill health and injury Rule B3/B4 Pensions.

7. Following enquiries with his pension provider the LCFA agreed after the usual mendacious wrangling, in common ground, that by law, he was Statute barred from receiving a B1 Ordinary pension, and that he was entitled to receive the compensating ill-health/injury Rule B3/Rule B4 pensions they had awarded.
There was, and remains, no legal dispute about this.

8. The LCFA for reasons it has never properly explained in law or otherwise, continues to perversely and arbitrarily calculate his pensions under Rule B1 (a mathematical formula, as are all pension calculations) in spite of being Statute barred from doing so.In effect “capping” his pensions, a term Ms. J. Wisdom, the non-legally qualified LCC pension administering layperson clerk originated, and which the LCFA and others who dealt with this pension dispute continued to misuse; a word, action, or provision not to be found in any applicable legislation.

9. The original author of these perverse decisions and terminology, Ms.J. Wisdom, is a pension administration clerk; a layperson holding no legal qualifications; nor she does hold any formal, or informal, pension administration qualifications, except in mendacity.

10. On the 18^th December 2015, FMG decided to implement Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure, Stage I (IDRP is Statutory and time limited-2 months) to have these significant financial errors corrected because Rule B3/B4(also mathematical formulae based) are Statutory compensatory pensions in substitution for Statutory Common Law damages which could normally be obtained by Court action.

11. The then Chief Fire Officer(CFO), Mr.Kenny, on the 19^th February 2016 in his IDRP Stage I statutory decision, unsupported by any published legal advice, independent or otherwise, concluded that FMG was being paid the correct pensions.
The CFO, a layperson with no legal qualifications, simply reiterated Ms. Wisdom’s perverse and arbitrary decisions that FMG was being paid the correct pensions, but without providing any legal authority for that statement; a statement which the DTPO later quoted and endorsed.

12. The CFO, a scruffy individual whose uniform never saw an iron or issue boot polish, issued an equally scruffy decision later mimicked by a clerk at The Pensions Ombudsman(TPO); then by the Deputy Pension Ombudsman(DTPO) in her ‘Determination’  all  confirming in their opinions that the pension law was being correctly applied, but failing to cite the legal authority, or how, an erroneous and miscalculated formulaic Rule B1 pension, which the Respondents are paying, is in their convoluted ‘thinking’, actually B3/B4 pensions in payment to disabled FSV~FMG?

13. On the 16^th June 2016, FMG then implemented the statutory time limited IDRP, Stage II, in order to have his pension dispute placed before the LCFA Elected Members.
The delegated pension Scheme manager, a Mr. R. Warren, as usual acting in ultra vires, dissimulation, and perpetual mendacity, refused to place the matter before the LCFA and the Stage II application timed out after 2 months.
Even after prompting by FMG, no Statutory action was ever taken by the LCFA.

14. Prior to taking up his post in 2002 Mr.Warren did not hold, and continues not to hold, any pension management qualifications, nor does he hold any legal qualification being simply a local authority clerk.

15. At no point had the LCFA, or its agents, advised FMG that it was acting on independent legal advice it had received from Counsel; or case law; or any other independent legal source, including any controlling government department, or its actuaries though there has always been the suspicion that at an early point in this dispute that the LCFA had obtained an Opinion, or Opinions, but suppressed their existence because it would have totally undermined and compounded its unlawful actions.

16. On the 5^th October 2017, FMG then took the dispute to The Pension Ombudsman(TPO) and after unreasonable and unaccountable delays FMG insisted, exercising his legal right, that his dispute, without further obfuscation, be placed for ‘Determination’ before the Ombudsman, or his Deputy; enough was enough.

17. On the 13^th March 2019, a full 18 months later, or if you prefer 525 ‘dying’ days, unsolicited, a Mr. Coutts (TPO) responded with an ‘opinion’. His ‘opinion’, at length, reiterated Ms.Wisdom, Mr.Warren, and CFO Kenny’s arbitrary and perverse decisions purporting these to be the correct application of the law.
One is bound to ask how would Mr. Coutts( like Ms.Wisdom/Mr.Warren/CFO) know ? Mr. Coutts is a legally unqualified layperson who is employed as a graded civil servant.
The FSV-FMG/TPO collated  documentation for this period is to be found in the Library ~ Correspondence ~ Year 2019, Go Here.

18. On the 6th June 2019 FSV~FMG registered his disagreement and continued to insist on his legal right to a ‘Determination’ by an Ombudsman, Go Here. 
A ‘helpful’ mischievous letter from TPO Coutts to Howell LFRS solicitor, how chummy in their impartiality, Go Here.

19. On the 2nd July 2020 disabled FSV~FMG raised a query on how his formal ‘Service Delivery’ Complaint was progressing…Go Here.

This had an additional enclosure which became known as the ‘Indictment’ Go Here.

 21.On the 19^th June 2016 the Bugler received a reply, but JMC-B the Barrister, did not from Robert Watling Head of the Ministerial Correspondence Team. This was, as might be expected, the TPO ‘team’ and the Minister’s ‘team’ getting their devious heads together to inform the Bugler/FSV~FMG/JMC-B what they already knew.
Denial by proxy…it is extremely unlikely that Mr.Arter the TPO or Pensions Minister Opperman actually were aware of the original letter, or ‘his’ response, which simply means ‘ignorance  is bliss’ but not for final accountability; why else keep civil servants if not to engage in falsehood?
The truth would be unthinkable but nevertheless the dead end for the TPO had been recognised by the TPO and thus disabled FSV~FMB and the Bugler could march on to the next ‘decision’ point on the highways and byways and the Pensions Minister could never here after deny culpability or knowledge. Go Here.

23. On the 22^nd August 2019 the Bugler contacted Mr.Tim Farron M.P.(Former LibDem Leader) to seek assistance for those FS Pension Beneficiaries being scandalously underpaid. Go Here.On the 29^th October Mr. Farron finally replied, Go Here

And in further correspondence the Bugler sent a copy of the extensive documentation which had already  been passed to the then Chair Frank Field DL of the DWP Work and Pensions Select Committee who had requested it, but did nothing with it because it did not provide media headlines to feed his ego.

Subsequently Mr. Farron after extensive briefing prepared with difficulty a list of 10 Questions though he could have asked a thousand which he sent to Pensions Minister Opperman.

On the 18th January 2020 at a subsequent ‘surgery’ meeting in Kendal Mr.Farron declared to the Bugler that he was being fobbed off by underlings and Minister Opperman had failed to answer the Questions or to follow ‘House’ protocol by replying directly to him in writing.

In the interim the Minister had received, directly from Dame Louise Ellman CBE M.P., another full copy of this documentation.

Minister Opperman succeeded Baroness(Ros) Altman CBE, who was fully informed of this situation but although she corresponded with the Bugler over this fraud also failed to take the slightest action and ultimately jumped/was sacked by PM Cameron. Go Here.

Since the 14th June 2020, after 3 years in post, Minister Opperman is the longest postholder in recent times and cannot possibly be unaware of this criminal scandal having received documentation from 3 sources, and yet , particularly as a Barrister, he still chooses to ignore the law and take not the slightest action.

As of this date there is still no reply to Mr.Farron M.P. from the Minister. Go Here.

It is clear that Minister Opperman, in this June 2020 quote, and complete partiality has thrown his entire weight behind the pension ‘industry’, one has only to note his order of priorities … “transforming retirement saving for the benefit of the industry, savers and wider society”…whilst forgetting, first you must have savers, before you can have an ‘industry’, presumably he has fallen off his horse on to his head once too often…now back to the hard road.

24.  Finally, on the 10^th September 2019, the Deputy Ombudsman(TDPO), a non-court practising barrister Ms.Karin Johnston issued her ‘Determination’.

Once more using a word for word recital of clerk Ms.Wisdom/Mr.Warren/CFO/Coutts ‘decisions’ that disabled FSV~FMG was receiving the correct pensions, but automatically granting Leave to Appeal on Points of Law.

It is hardly surprising with a sinecure for her working life, namely and ironically,  a Civil Service Pension for her retirement, and carrying her ‘poisoned chalice’ passed to her by a distancing and scheming Arter the TPO, she would ‘toe the line’ and apply the Nelson  solution…what pension law, I see no law… 

Ms.Johnston is simply inept in addition to having her price; ineptitude confirmed by a particular pension ‘Determination’ during which her ‘Determination’ was publicly sent down to her no less than three times by a Judge at the High Court of Appeal with instructions to get it right…one would have thought that Ms.Johnston would at the very least be professionally embarrassed and have learned a harsh lesson for the future, but it remains that on the day, the money and the pension was always going to come out on top…

For the ‘Determination’, Go Here.

This Cross Roads was an appropriate point to to review the anticipated need to march on to the Courts of Appeal, the UK Supreme Court, and the European Courts by following the initial proffered  ‘advice’  from the TPO.

‘A Journey of Truth’ Chapter 18 can now be written… but meantime Go Here.