This Chapter at a Glance:

Pension Self ~ Education:

• Stage ~ 1. Checking a Pension ~ A Quandary ?

• Stage ~ 2. Collate Personally Retained Records;
                ~ Preliminary Administration;

• Stage ~ 3. Using the Law to recover more Data;

• Stage ~ 4. Acquire Fire Service Personal Record Files;

• Stage ~ 5. An FRS Pension (s) Procedural Example;

~ 4 admin Steps;

• Stage ~ 6. Understanding the Law and Rule B3;

~ The Word ‘Notional’;
~ FRS Compliance with the Law & Common Law;

 • Stage – 7. Rule B3 ~ Critical interaction with Paragraphs 4~5

• Stage ~ 8. The FRS ~ Statement ~ Pension Discharge Account.

The entire objective of the Bugler website is to educate FSV pension holders, in plain English, in all matters pension, particularly those in receipt of an ill-health/injury pensions.

There is little doubt that all established pensions, whether correct or not, are under siege by this Government and by their willing complicitors the Fire Authorities(FRS) ever eager to reduce their pension bills.

But they took the blood, sweat, and tears of the Firefighters, their families, and Widows did they not?

Now they must continue to pay the bills, and more importantly, the correct bills.

Make no mistake, FRS regard pension self-education as a threat to their fiefdom within which, up to now, their secrecy has disguised their appalling institutionalised gross incompetence and maladministration, in a word, fraudulence.

The Bugler will publish examples of pension miscalculation leading to substantial underpayments, and continue to follow the detailed twists and turns of this malicious ‘game’, the single objective of which is, for the Home Office/DCLG Firefighters’ Pension Team (the government) in complicity with the FRS, to enrich themselves by knowingly defrauding disabled FSVs and their Beneficiaries of their just and proper pension(s).

In this gross breach of trust one must ask who ever heard of, or saw, the expert Home Office Commentary on the 1992 Pension Scheme until the Bugler published it ?

A Commentary specifically written for the use of self ~ educating Firefighters ~ a book which states this is its objective ~ yet another example of deceit by secrecy which simply says it all…

In self-education it is necessary, in the first instance, to lay out the history of Fire Service Pension Schemes; then the current ‘state of play’ within the ‘industry’; and finally having provided this essential groundwork to then provide the tools such as the Bugler Libraries; the Rank to Pay Scales; to provide a readily accessible specialist library of documents relating to Fire Service pensions; and finally calculators all geared to checking a pension.

Checking a pension is not a difficult task when using personal data; but creating the Stage-by-Stage and Step~by~Step checking procedures and explaining the thinking behind the law incorporating the various actuarial formulae has been a challenge for the Bugler but if the Reader simply chooses to work the formulae correctly, and ignoring the labyrinthine legal and mathematical reasoning which has been done for us all, then that is the route to follow.

This next phase in deepening this self-education is to put these tools to work on the most precious of documents the FRS’s pension calculation compulsory discharge

documents issued to each disabled FSV which are usually wrong at the point of first issue.

This task leads through an actuarial labyrinth to the point of sufficient understanding of the purposes of actuarial pension mathematical formulae encapsulated within the 1992 Statutory Instrument.

Whilst at first glance this may appear daunting it is to be remembered that the clerks who currently ‘manage’ Fire Service pensions have, in the main and self-evidently, no formal actuarial, legal, or accountancy training and hold no formal qualifications for these essential qualities. So if they can make such a mess of it, it is reasonable to assume FSVs can do much more accurate calculations,  based on the law, and it is in their personal interest to do so.

Any disabled FSV, assisted by family if necessary, can by using the Stage-by-Stage and Step-by-Step guide provided by the Bugler accomplish these simple calculations.

All of which, accompanied by the use of a good desk calculator, will result in the correct application of the correct formulae to the correct pension(s) resulting in the production of a correct and accurate legal balance sheet to take forward to a pension provider/manager when seeking answers to questions which will arise, particularly if it is concluded, that there has been an underpayment spread over the lifetime of the pension(s).

There are broad indications, from examples, that current Firefighters pensions active for 28 years may well produce underpayments of hundreds to thousands of pounds per annum; without considering compound interest; the loss of amenity (the purchasing power denied during this time) and because Fire Authorities knew exactly what they were fraudulently doing, exemplary (limitless) damages.

Widows, partners, and Beneficiaries of the estates of deceased FSVs would be well advised to carry out similar checks because any miscalculation by an FRS will, when corrected, immediately impact on the Widows’ ‘Half’ payments and accrued underpayments during the pension lifetime of a disabled FSV will automatically become due to the legal estate of that disabled FSV upon his/her demise.

There is a final thought.

When a Firefighter ‘signs up’ to a Scheme, e.g. the 1992 Scheme and then becomes a Member of that Scheme he remains a Member of that Scheme until he lawfully chooses to become a Member of a new Scheme, or to transfer its accrued ‘worth’ to a private Scheme.

The FRS and no administrator within it has the lawful authority to ‘transfer’ and pay out, on a dislike or whim, a pension(s) to that Member against his/her will from another Scheme, e.g., the 2006 Scheme. There are on record, which the Bugler has illustrated, such examples in, as ever, Lancashire FRS.

Such an act is, of course, a Criminal act of pure fraud under The Fraud Act 2006.

Checking an active pension is grounded on good administration by the disabled FSV and whilst this, in retirement, may have been haphazard up to this point, that will need to change for the years ahead reflecting the developing  ‘free-for-all market’ for barrow boys in ‘pension trading’; a folly if ever there was one…

The Bugler has found from experience that, by and large, FSV are above average disciplined administrators and this is the key to accurate pension checking.

Historical experience, with not only Lancashire; in London LFPA; in, Herefordshire, Cheshire,  and the West Sussex LFRS indicates that the standards of accuracy in their pension management calculations range from poor to

disastrous and when the time comes to challenge the accuracy of any pension then the FSV should already be in a position to have accurate records and accounts at his/her disposal.  FRS’s will resist challenges because of the maladministrative, political, and financial embarrassment it will cause them but because they are such poor pension administrators this resistance can be defeated by repeatedly publishing their own routine and gross incompetence, though on occasions, the LFB demonstrated its public ‘own goal’ incompetence by handing back £2+mil wrongly deducted in Retirement Allowance to their FSVs and then ‘writing off’ £3-4million of ‘overpayments’.

If another example is needed? Go Here.

• Assemble all available physical documents in the FSV’s possession, particularly those from discharge;

• Carefully assemble these in a proper physical ring binder file in the actual date order of origination and receipt with the earliest at the bottom of the binder interspersed with FSV’s dated replies, if these were created at the time, which they ought to have been;

• Always confirm everything in writing to the FRS and keep contemporaneous notes (made at the time); this is tiresome to do; but you will be glad you did so if a dispute arises;

• Using a computer, generate named Directories/Folders for intended storage of these very precious records; make sure that everything is electronically backed up but hidden where your family can find them later if they need to;

• Scan every document to a high standard and clean it up to a high visibility standard (use Photoshop® or the like) and then give it the original unique date based reference.

Prefix this date with ‘001’ followed by a space this will allow the sequential storage of up to 999 documents;

• Documents should firstly be scanned as a ‘picture’ (JPG), but then converted to a PDF (Adobe Acrobat) file asap because this will save filing time later.

PDFs are the ‘standard’ used in legal work and are much more editable later should that be necessary by those working on/using the document. It is also useful at this point to apply the OCR (optical character recognition) program, it quite literally ‘squares’ the scanned pages up in the process; 

• Where there are several pages involved in a single document, give the document the prefixed ‘001’ then the date, and then, A-Z for each individual scanned page. Later these ‘pictures’ can easily be converted to PDFs and assembled into a single PDF document for filing.

For the purpose of this Checking Exercise it is assumed that every FSV will have retained their pension calculation discharge statement of account which will show the FRS’s calculations when they first put their pension(s) into payment.

If not, then there is no possibility of independently checking the accuracy of the FRS’s calculations, or to even carry out a preliminary check, which is the lead-in to using the detailed Bugler’s Stage-by-Stage guidance to determine finally, whether or not, these calculations are correct. 

The first critical step is to obtain a copy of the pension discharge, statement of account, in order to carry out at a minimum, a preliminary check.

A broad rule of thumb is that if the APP has simply been multiplied by 40 and divided by 60 and the result ‘declared’ as the correct B3/B4 pension when in fact it is an incorrect B1, the high probability is that the pension(s) is completely wrong and thus underpaid over the lifetime of the pension.

If the pension(s) is correct, an unlikely tale,… then the disabled FSV need proceed no further. 

The discharge statement of account must show how the initial pension(s) was calculated by the FRS and then having obtained and carried out a preliminary check, if doubt remains regarding the accuracy of this statement of account, then the FSV should collate all existing Personal Records, and then, generate the simple administration structures which lead to the Stage-by-Stage accurate checking of the pension(s).

This is what a typical example of a Lancashire Pension Discharge Statement looks like which was obtained after a Court Order (Though with ‘normal’ FRS this should not be necessary),  Go Here.

Is this Pension Statement all that it seems?

This statement of account was the second corrected edition of a first issue calculation which was also wrong.

Even on this revised statement of account a cursory glance reveals further hand written corrections, but a more careful study of this statement reveals major flaws both in

the misapplication of pension law and in the incorrect application of mathematical formulae calculations.

All of which amount to the substantial underpayment of these pensions since their inception in 1992, or after.

The Bugler has not the slightest reservation about releasing his public statement of accounts because as a former public servant the Taxpayers (including himself) have the right to know what they paid public servants and what they are currently paying to whom.

In the balance of fair play the Taxpayers also have the right to be informed that the Bugler in keeping with all other Fire Service Veterans paid 11% (less one penny) of their gross annual salary in pension contributions for decades which was 30% of the total cost of running the Scheme, to reach the point of retirement during which they continue to pay tax at all the current rates.

A fact which the governments conveniently forget when it suits them, is that FSV’s did not get ever have a ‘free’ pension given to them…

Whilst this entire exercise is directed to assist those who, in the ’92 Pension Scheme, have a Rule B3 ill-health Pension and/or a Rule B4 Injury Award, given the atrocious standards of pension ‘management’ in the Fire Service ~ top to bottom ~ the Bugler suggests it would be sensible for anyone with any type of pension in payment from any FRS to check its basic accuracy.

It is a simple fact that the under miscalculation of one day of Service means that the pension(s) in payment is one day/pennies short of a pay day which with 8% compound interest over the existing life of a pension can amount to substantial amounts of underpaid money which ought to be in the pockets of the FSVs, their families, and their Beneficiaries, not the FRS.

The FRS has a Statutory duty of disclosure under Statutory Instrument 2013 No. 2734 – Pensions – ‘The Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Disclosure of Information) Regulations 2013 the Pension Regulations’, ~ to supply this pension statement of account (Data); they cannot charge for this information, nor indeed can they ask why it is required; all allied with the new GDPR.

Using the Law obtain hard copies of all Personal Record Files which must include pension records :

• Write/email the FSV’s pension provider or the FRS and make a formal request for a hard copy of ALL Personal Records Files (Subject Data) under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2018 (DPA). The Act describes personal records such as these as ‘Subject Data’ and that term including ‘All’ should be used in any formal Request.

‘Subject Data’ is the legal property of the FSV under the DPA;

• Under the DPA the FRS have a legal duty to fulfil your request or to justify (though one wonders how) a refusal. Let it be clear that the FRS is not granted any time to ‘consider’ or ‘think’ about the request. It has to deliver the subject data or a comprehensive legal explanation why they are refusing such a lawful request, within 1 month.

• There is no fee required and FRS’s cannot charge a fee unless the request generates excessive administrative workload. A routine ‘Subject Data’ Request for such records would not generate such a workload.

All FRS’s will require the applicant to positively identify themselves. This is best served by the FSV posting or emailing (with care ~ which includes a request for an immediate acknowledgement of receipt) of scanned photo copy of the identification page of a Passport which includes the photo section.

• When the PRF is received. Pencil number each page (1-of-xxx) to prevent the FRS ‘discovering’ documents it omitted to send in the first place should arguments arise later when challenging the veracity of the records.

Trust…a figment of the imagination…

• Run a comparison exercise between the received PRF and the original documents in the possession of the FSV looking particularly for what is not in the FA

copy but which they may have stated in prior correspondence they have relied on in the past to make a decision on a pension(s) overpayment(maladministration) and recoupment.

For example FSVs regularly complain that written information sent to an FRS concerning changes to their DWP benefits were not recorded which led to the FRS unlawfully recovering monies about which they had been informed and took no action at the time.

Trust …what trust?

• Be aware of the following ‘game’. An FRS has no legal right to remove documents from the PRF of a retired FSV. They are entitled to redact legal advice to them before the issue of a copy but they are not entitled to remove other documents in a random fashion (to serve their malign purposes) because this destroys (sometimes the intent) the context and logic within which the original document was created and thus its removal destroys the logical narrative (often the deliberate intention).

Should this occur the FRS must provide a written explanation of what has been removed and why? These documents must be replaced in the file with redaction (with explanation), but replaced they must be.

Trust…you cannot be serious!

• Write a comprehensive contemporaneous note (at that time) of your thoughts and impressions of the status of the received PRF. Remember your Beneficiaries may discover later underpayment during the active lifetime of the pension years after your demise, but to which they are entitled to recover with compound interest as part of your estate.

Trust is long gone…

The ground work has been prepared for a pension(s) check. If your pension TYPE and DATA are correct ~ Now is the time to find out if it has been accurately calculated and paid ?

Every single day/penny lost is a pension pay package lost to a Beneficiary !

Putting a Firefighter’s Pension(s); Gratuities; and Commutation into payment, is essentially a simple procedure in FRS pension administration.

For the purpose of following this procedural example, which the FRS ought to have followed, it is assumed the Firefighter is a Member of his/her Firefighters’ Pension Scheme.

S/He was compulsorily medically discharged as ‘permanently disabled’ with a no fault in-service ‘qualifying injury’, under the terms and conditions of 1992 Statutory Instrument No:129; the 1995 Pensions Act; and the expert Home Office Commentary.

At that point in time s/he was entitled by Rank to continue to serve until aged 55 or 60 years ( rank related – either 35 or 40 Years maximum Service).

He/she was paid an enhanced Rule B3 ill-heath pension (for life); was paid a 7/60ths enhancement for medical discharge under Rule B3; a pensionable Long Service bounty; was paid a Rule B4 Injury Pension (tax free for life) which included a (tax free once only) Gratuity payment; and commutation was by the Firefighter’s choice.

Step 1.

The FRS selects the correct Pension Scheme, in this case the 1992 Firemen’s Pension Scheme Order, Statutory Instrument No.129 with its associated correct expert ‘guidance’ book, the 1992 Home Office Commentary, in plain English for the issuance and calculation of the pension(s) for this Pension Scheme under which the pension(s) were accrued;

In this procedural example both the 1992 Firemen’s Pension Scheme Order, Statutory Instrument No.129 and the  expert 1992 Home Office ‘Commentary on the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme’, in plain English, are found in the Bugler’s Library Go Here ;

Step 2:

The FRS using 1992 Statutory Instrument No:129 and the correct expert H.O.1992 ‘Commentary’ (NOT the 2008 Guidance Notes) then selects the specific type of  pension(s) and/or gratuities to be paid; from the selection of those available :
N.B. Commutation is at the choice of the Firefighter.

• Rule B1 Ordinary Pension.

An Ordinary pension of half pay (30/60ths) is paid on retirement to non-injured Firefighters who are aged 50 or over (late entrants) who can only achieve a maximum of 25 years’ Service.

Maximum pensions of 2/3rds pay (40/60ths) are paid after 30 years’ Service to non-injured Firefighters who are aged 50 or over; who voluntarily retire before age 55 but who will not receive an annual Retail Price Index linked pension increase (Commentary-Annex 1) until aged 55;  a Rule B1 cannot by law be substituted for a Rule B3 ill-health pension;

• Rule B2 Short Service Pension.

This is a compulsory retirement pension for non-injured Firefighters (on account of age 55 for lower ranks, or 60 for higher) with more than 2 and less than 25 years’ Service;

• Rule B3 ill-health Pension.

This pension is to compensate Firefighters retiring early due to medical ill-health without,  or with , a ‘qualifying injury’ ;

• Rule B3 ill-health Gratuity (2 years or less Service).

This is a compulsory retirement, gratuity (Rule A10 ‘permanent disablement’) for non ‘qualified injury’ Firefighters, with less than 2 years’ Service;

• Rule B3 ill-health Pension (+ 5 Years’ Service).

This is a compulsory retirement pension (Rule A10 ‘permanent disablement’) for non ‘qualified injury’ Firefighters with more than 5 years’ service but less than 13 years service which will attract a further 7/60^th of Average Pensionable Pay at discharge as an enhancement for ill-health compulsory discharge.

(See the expert H.O. Commentary for precise details, Page B3-2);

• Rule B3 ill-health Pension (+13 Years’ Service).

This is a compulsory retirement pension (Rule A10 ‘permanent disablement’) for non ‘qualified injury’ Firefighters with more than 13 years’ Service but which will attract a further 7/60^th of Average Pensionable Pay at discharge as an enhancement for ill-health compulsory discharge;

(See the expert H.O. Commentary for precise details, Page B3-2);

• Rule B3 ill-health Pension (+13 Years’ Service).

This is a compulsory retirement pension (Rule A10 ‘permanent disablement’) for ‘qualified injury’ Firefighters with more than 13 years’ Service which will attract  a further 7/60^th of Average Pensionable Pay at discharge as an enhancement for ill-health compulsory discharge;

(See the expert H.O. Commentary for precise details, Page B3-2);

This Rule includes other very important roles which includes deciding what a final Rule B3 ill-health pension to be paid is, by the use of an included Rule B3 formula to produce a ‘Notional Retirement Pension’ for comparison with other similar calculations:

N.B.
(A) The ‘Notional Retirement Pension’ is calculated under Rule B3 Paragraph 5(1) formula which is in fact a B1 Ordinary pension using the Firefighter’s actual Rank and Pay Scales which “is” the APP of the last day of Service before compulsory medical discharge; this calculation is unlikely to occur because the disabled Firefighter has already been compulsorily discharged by the FRS with a Rule B3 ill-health pension;

Or,

(B) An alternative ‘Notional Retirement Pension’, is calculated under the same Rule B3 formula; this is to create another APP, unlike the first APP, which recognises what income the Firefighter ‘could/would’ have acquired using the same APP as (A) had he/she not been injured.

Or,

(C) An alternative ‘Notional Retirement Pension’, is calculated under the same Rule B3 formula; this is to create another APP, unlike the other two APPs, which in this case recognises what Rank and Salary the Firefighter ‘could/would’ have achieved “by reference to” the same actual National Rank to Pay Scales as the original two calculations; had he/she not been injured.

This critical part of these calculations is to produce final competing amounts of the Rule B3 nominal pensions to be paid and this will be explained once more in even plainer English later;

(See the expert H.O. Commentary for precise details, Page B5-3).

• Rule B4 Injury Pension;

This pension is paid to a ‘qualified injury’ Firefighter who has been permanently disabled as a result of a Rule A9 ‘qualifying injury’; and is dependent on Service; the percentage of disability (and to compensate for loss of future earning capacity); decided by FRS Occupational Health Doctor, or on  Appeal to the Secretary of State’s appointed Medical Board; the compensation can consist of an Injury pension and a (single only payment) Gratuity; some deductible DWP benefits in current payment; and the Firefighter’s final APP.

(See the expert H.O. Commentary for precise details, Page B4-1).

• Rule B4 Injury Gratuity;

This Gratuity is a percentage of the Firefighter’s final APP and coupled to the degree of disability (loss of future earnings capacity) awarded by the FRS Occupational Health Doctor, or on Appeal to the Secretary of State’s appointed Medical Board;

Step 3:    

The FRS next, acquires, collates, and assembles the complete ‘Subject Data’ on the Firefighter before the final step which is to calculate the correct enhanced  Pension(s); the Injury Pension; the Gratuities; and the Commutation to be paid to the Firefighter by his/her choice.

The FRS verifies the following:

• Verifies the Name;

• Verifies the Address;

• Verifies the Date of Birth;

• Verifies the correct Date of Service induction and age (x.x yrs) at induction for pensionable purposes;

• Verifies and calculates the compulsory age of discharge (uninjured) which is 55, or, in this procedural example , 60 years Rank related;

• Verifies and calculates the Notional (hypothetical) years and days Service which could/would have been completed up to the Firefighter’s 55th or 60th Birthday(Rank relevant) maximum of 35 or 40 years Service, had they not been injured;

• Verifies and calculates the correct age at discharge date;

• Verifies and calculates the projected Date of Compulsory Discharge using the Statutory ‘Terms of Notice’ relevant to the Rank;

• Verifies by calculating under Rule A7 the correct Total Actual Pensionable Service completed in years and days (converted to decimals of a year) ; years are taken as 365 days, and leap year days are also counted;
Rule A7 and its simple formula, ‘Reckoning of service for purposes of awards’ is the applicable Rule; Go Here;

• Verifies and calculates the 60ths of the potential pension set against the length of pensionable service; but “never counting less than 1/60th” (e.g. decimal point of a 1/60th?) and never more than 67/60ths, in plain English, always rounding up for calculation purposes;

• Verifies and adds to the pension calculation, whether or not additional 7/60th for illness, is payable; this is always payable if compulsorily discharged with a B3 ill-health pension which lawfully also brings the calculation above the so called 40/60ths ‘cap’;

• Verifies and calculates the percentage of disability (loss of future earnings capacity) awarded under the Injury pension review by the FRS Doctor/ Secretary of State Independent Medical Board;

• Verifies the correct actual Rank and Pay Scale at discharge; including the additional 20% pensionable Flexible Duty Supplement, if applicable, and/or, payable on the basic salary of the rank and time in post;

• Verifies and calculates the Average Pensionable Pay (APP) on the date of compulsory discharge, the last day of Service, calculated over the previous ‘last best 3 calculations’ of the 3 previous years; this calculation must include 3 part salary years calculated before and after the historical annual pay increase date of the 7th of November each year; it must include pay on temporary promotion which is pensionable, but not acting up allowances ;

N.B. Normally only one set of final pension calculations should be issued by the FRS, though sometimes 3 or more ‘corrected updates’ occur. Firefighters should always, commencing with their correct basic data including their own calculated APP; check all issued calculations for errors and then compare these with the final FRS pension statement to ensure total accuracy to a penny.
For example, the Bugler’s already incorrect B1 pension was/is £1013.64 short (23.7 years ago~December 2020) thus consequentially the Injury pension and the Gratuity was underpaid.

• Verifies and ensures that the pension(s) receive immediate (compulsory discharge under Rule B3), and annually thereafter, automatic Retail Price Index linked ‘Pension Increase’ (PI). In the Bugler’s case the RPI was paid 14 months late, all without comment or retrospective reimbursement…

It is both maladministration, malfeasance, and breach of the Statutory Instrument if this linking is delayed until the age of 55 under Rule B3 because this erodes the value of the pension in payment during this ‘delayed’ period;

 (See the expert H.O. Commentary for precise details, Page G1-1&2; Commentary Annex-1).

Step 4:

The FRS using the Statutory Instrument and the expert and correct ‘ Home Office 1992 Commentary’, having verified the Firefighter’s Data including an agreed APP, and selected the type of pension(s) to be paid next selects the specific calculating Formulae, or Table, to be applied to the selected pension(s) from the selection of Formulae and Tables available within the Statutory Instrument No:129, Pages 44-48, Go Here.

• Rule B1 Ordinary Pension formula;

A Rule B1 pension cannot by S.I. No:129  law be substituted for a B3 ill-health pension. Nor can it be described as a Rule B3 pension under any guise;

• Rule B2 and Rule B3 Short Service Pension formulae;

• Rule B2 & B3 short service or ill-health Gratuity formulae;

• Rule B3 ill-health Pension joint ‘competing’ formulae;

• Rule B4 Injury Pension and Gratuity Tables with specific reference to DWP ‘deductibles’ ;

In this procedural example the FRS chose the Rule B3, there are 3 x formulae to be calculated including generating the ‘notional retirement formula’; and after these calculations are completed, the Rule B4 with ‘Qualifying Injury’ percentage of injury Tables, and Rule B4 Gratuity Tables.

The FRS using the correct formulae in accordance with S.I. No:129 Page 45, Rule B3 (Paragraphs 1-4) calculates the First enhanced ill-heath Pension to be considered using the actual APP of the Firefighter at the date of compulsory discharge, the last day of Service; the time in Service in years before, and after, 20 years of Service (up to a ~ rank related ~ maximum) of 40 years; and including the awarded 7/60^th pension enhancement for  compulsory discharge by reason of ill-health.

This First calculated pension sum is later compared with a Second calculated sum produced by the Rule B3 the ‘Notional Retirement Pension’ formula using the same actual APP. The comparison then confirms which of the sums is to be paid as a final pension, which is normally Rule B3 Paragraph 4 the ‘greater’ of the two sums calculated by the use of Rule L4(3).

Firefighters should always before compulsory discharge require a pension meeting, or meetings, with the FRS, accompanied with a representative if necessary, to completely understand how his/her pension(s) have been calculated; how their APP was calculated to see if it is correct; and to then review, based on annual performance reviews and general conduct, contained in his/her Personal Record File, what the Firefighter ‘could/would’ have achieved in career progress had s/he not be injured.

On the one hand, a Firefighter who enjoyed his/her service and did not plan an ambitious career  might simply be sanguine and not contest this inevitable change to his/her life; or on the other, s/he might consider what ‘could/would’ have been  achieved and was working towards in the Lost Career Years, if s/he had not been injured.

First it is necessary to explain the word ‘Notional’:

Parliamentary actuaries (scientific mathematicians) regularly use the word ‘Notional’ to give a ‘notion’, an ‘impression’, or an ‘idea’, a ‘provisional outline’, of what the final pension to be paid is ‘likely to look like’ including what a Firefighter ‘could/would have earned’ had his/her working life not been cut short thus creating the ‘Lost Career Years’; or in extending this ‘idea’ a notion what the final pension to be paid will be following comparison between a ‘Notional Retirement Pensions’ and the competing Rule B3 Paragraph 4 calculation.The greater of these two sums is usually the Paragraph 4 and is this always paid by law because if the FRS had compulsorily discharged the Firefighter under Rule B3 ill-health Paragraph 5(1) cannot be implemented.

Rule B3 Paragraph 5(1) states (in paraphrasing):

A Firefighter’s notional service is the period in years that s/he would have been entitled to reckon as pensionable service if s/he had continued to serve until s/he could –

• retire with a maximum ordinary pension(either 55 or (rank related) 60 years of age, i.e.’ 35 or 40 years Service
Or,
• be required to retire on account of age, whichever is the earlier.

However, if the Firefighter had been compulsorily discharged with a B3 ill-health pension Paragraph 5(1) cannot be applied in Law.

XXFRS Compliance with the Law & Common LawXX

The FRS must comply with the Statute Law ~ The Rules ~ when deciding the final pensions to be paid.

In applying the Rules, in this example Rules B3, B4, and L4 the FRS must also comply with the Principles of Common Law when contemplating the type and amount of pension/compensation to be paid to a Firefighter as a final pension.

Common Law is a collection of unwritten laws based on legal precedents (custom and practice) established by the Courts and Judges working on actual cases and in the main, dealing with unusual cases which are not entirely ‘satisfied’ by the applicable Statute Law ~ these laws and their arcane language date; time out; or do not deal well with the point at issue; or because of ambiguous original drafting(reader dependent) which may apply in this part of SI No:129.

Guidance to them, though not the Law, is to be found in ‘The White Book’ a commercial publication.  

The Common Law influences the decision-making process Judges take into account in unusual cases where the outcome cannot be determined solely based on interpretation of existing Statutes; including losses to date and in the future, future costs, loss of earnings, pain, suffering, and loss of amenity ~ what the Firefighter could have spent the money on if s/he had not been underpaid...

It is a fundamental principle of Common Law in considering the damages, loss and compensation to be paid by the FRS to the Firefighter, to place him/her in so far as it can, in the financial position s/he would have been in, if s/he had completed their full Service uninjured, whilst guarding against over compensation if the Statute stipulates a limit, as it does in the design and construction of the Paragraph 4 formula.

Important as Rule B3 is with its own actual APP and its two critical functions within Paragraphs 4 or 5; it can only perform its overall function if it works successfully in interaction with the overarching Rule L4(3), if needs be.

The first function of Rule B3  Paragraph 4 is to provide three comparison calculations the ‘largest’ of which is compared later with the Rule B3 Paragraph 5 calculation to determine which is the ‘largest’ sum; usually this will be the Rule B3 Paragraph 4; sum and in this case the Rule B3 Paragraph 4 is usually paid as the final Rule B3 ill-health pension because by awarding a B3 ill-health pension the LCFA will have precluded the use of Paragraph 5;

The second function of Rule B3 is to provide another different comparison APP calculation to compare with the original Rule B3 Paragraph 4 ; only this time its purpose is different and based on what a Firefighter ‘could/would have earned’ in the ‘Lost Career Years’.

The ‘A’ in the Rule B3 formula is established  “by reference to” (Rule B3, Paragraph 5(2)) the ‘actual’ Rank and Pay Scales in force on the last day of the Firefighter’s Service if he/she had not been injured and compulsorily retired from the Service which becomes the ‘notional’ APP to be used in this formula; on the basis of what a Firefighter ‘could/would have earned’ (Rank with Pay Scale) in the ‘Lost Career Years’.

Normally this second ‘Notional Retirement Pension’ is the largest when compared with the Rule B3 Paragraph 4 calculation and is paid on the basis of Rule L4(3) which acts as a compensation tool by stating that the ‘largest’ of the two competing pensions is always paid.

Furthermore, unlike Rule B3 Paragraph 4 where there is an intrinsic Statute limitation in the formula placed on the calculated sum to be paid in pension, the ‘notional retirement pension’,  there is none stated for Rule B3 Paragraph 4 except that any limitation, if present,  is already mathematically designed and incorporated  into the Rule B3 Paragraph 4 formula.

Now to the practical application.

First function: FRS must establish the correct ill health pension/compensation to be paid to a Firefighter by using SI No: Rule B3 (Page 49, Part III, Paragraph 4), using the actual Rank and Pay Scales of the year of compulsory ill-health/injury discharge; on the last day of Service.

This APP is calculated on the last best 3 years of Service and having regard to the half years of pay because historically the annual Pay Formula year runs from 7^th November to the 6^th November the following year.

This “is” the APP, and is best calculated by the Firefighter and the FRS . It is used as ‘A’ in the Rule B3 formulae.

Before proceeding to a final decision on the pension to be paid the Firefighter must ensure that the FRS has carried out its Second Function.

Second function: the FRS must next calculate a B3 ‘Notional Retirement Pension’ under Paragraph 5 (1), using the same formula with the same APP, to see what effect if any, this sum might have on its first B3 Paragraph 4 sum; if for example the Firefighter has already been compulsorily discharged with a B3 ill-health pension then Paragraph 5 cannot be implemented.

A Firefighter who thoughtfully considers, after a joint pension Firefighter/FRS career review, that, in the remaining years s/he had left to serve, the ‘Lost Career Years’, had s/he not been injured, s/he would have not advanced further in Rank (A  Qualified Firefighter is a Rank), or concedes to themselves that s/he had no particular desire to do so, s/he should consider  whether or not , this pension payment option would be the best option to take.

Third function: IF, a Firefighter views his/her compulsory discharge by reason of a no-fault injury is unfair, in spite of having an exemplary Service record with prospects, and because this compulsory discharge will result in a lost career in the ‘Lost Career Years’ still to be served during which s/he “could” have earned promotion in Rank with associated pay; s/he is entitled to seek a further enhancement of the final pension to be paid. It is their right in Statute and Common Law to do so.

In this situation Paragraph 5 (2) has its function, a function which addresses this specific problem in Statute and Common Law in order to ensure there is fairplay in compensation for the  ‘Lost Career Years’.

In seeking extra compensation the Firefighter is entitled under Rule 3 Paragraph 5; Commentary Part K1-1 Para 5; Part G1-1; Part B3-2; and Common Law, by reason of the (clue) in the wording “by reference to”,  to seek a further enhanced pension/compensation which is based not only on his/her established and recorded  exemplary performance but which reasonably posits the probability(the burden of proof in Civil law) what Rank (notional Rank with associated pay) this Firefighter ‘could’ have earned/achieved in the ‘Lost Career Years’.

This ‘Notional’ Rank establishes a different APP because it uses a different Rank to Pay Scale , a rank which may have been achieved if not injured and compulsorily discharged.

The FRS final calculation uses the Rule B3 Paragraph 5 calculation which initially provided a comparison  with the Rule 3 Paragraph 4 calculation, but in this case (the lost promotion case) there is no stated Statutory limitation on the pension to be paid because any limitation there may be, is already built into the B3 formula.

Usually this latter ‘Notional Retirement Pension’ is the ‘largest’ and is the Pension which is to be paid.

This decision may lead to the invocation of Rule L4(3) acting in favour of fair compensation by stating as a compensating factor … “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.”.

In the event of disagreement this calculation proceeds to arbitration and if not satisfied,  to Court to exercise the Common Law rights on compensation; which is where disabled FSV~FMG case (in part) is currently at in the High Court of Appeal.

It is from this final Rule B3 Paragraphs 4 and 5 interaction that the final pension is paid; and it is from this sum that a Rule B4 Injury Pension and its Gratuities can then be correctly calculated and paid.

( Expert H.O. Commentary for precise details, Page B5-3).

Final Observation:

Why is it that the Bugler is capable of understanding the law? A LiP who was recently described by a double First from Cambridge in Law in the Belfast High Court ‘as of neither legal qualification nor account’, in the process bringing the roof down on herself by the sitting the High Court Judge, when other so called illustrious members of the Judiciary plainly cannot ‘get it’ either?

All it took, decades ago, was a 16 week intensive course at the Home Office Fire Service College to learn to read the law using the Fire Service relevant 32 Acts which were presented; a hobby interest in the law; and regular reading of the impressive High Court Judgements in the ‘Times’ newspaper; plus a morning in 2015 spent with a very helpful senior lecturer in the Science of Actuarial Mathematics at the Alan Turing Building at Manchester University, Manchester Institute for Mathematical Sciences who practised as an actuary for 29 years and 3 months with Mercer’s (Manchester) who explained, with a chalk and blackboard, how a pension scheme, in this case the ’92 FPS, with its pension formulae, are created for a Pension Scheme.

It seems that rather than try and understand and implement the legal complexities of the Points~of~Law raised which are not all that difficult. These FRS ‘experts’; the Deputy Pension Ombudsman (a barrister); and now two junior High Court Judges lacking in intellectual rigor simply gave up.

In point of fact, they never made the slightest attempt to understand the law they are tasked to understand, implement, and enforce, and then bizarrely confirmed the issue of a Rule B1 pension as correct, which is of course not only nonsensical but entirely unlawful, purporting it to be a Rule B3 pension; or issuing a Judicially lazy ‘No’ Judgment, because it was self evidently easier to do this than respond to the professional challenge of the Point~of~Law placed before them and because they were instructed to act otherwise.

It is this Rule B3 and its critical interplay with Rule L4 which is the pitfall into which the pension ‘experts’ of the FRS; The Pension Ombudsman’s Deputy; and now it seems junior members of the High Court of Appeal have fallen due to their  failure to read and understand the Rules of SI No129 and the Common Law of compensation (which is extraordinary in the case of the junior High Court Judges) and as a consequence their failure to apply, correctly, the Statute law of  Rule B3, Paragraphs 4 and 5, and their interaction with Rule L4.

But it should be said it is very easy to fall into this trap; the Bugler has done so repeatedly in drafting and redrafting these ‘plain English’ Chapters, but then he is not paid to do it .

Now as we know these junior Judges had been told to work to a different agenda, the ‘No’ agenda.

In the vast majority of Firefighter pension cases especially those with no particular career aspirations, a Paragraph 4 calculation will be ‘larger’ than the Paragraph 5 calculation, if it can be implemented which is very unlikely if the Firefighter has been compulsorily discharged with a B3 ill-health pension.

However, the third function of Rule B3 tends to be reserved for those who can rightfully claim that if they had not been injured in the years that remained to them to serve(The Lost Career Years) they could/would have earned promotion or further promotion, (what they “could/would have earned”) by means of a putative Rank but there is no Statutory stated nor implied limitation of the resultant final pension to be paid in that case.

It is essential to study the examples provided on the Bugler to set this Rule B3 Paragraph 5 law in its proper legal context and how it works, or if it is is allowed to work, in practice by comparing like for like calculations an exercise which must be accompanied by the reading of the legal Opinions(6) expressed by Mr. J.M. Copplestone-Bruce in the Legal Chamber-Opinions. Go Here. 

The FRS then promulgates to the Firefighter the Rule type(s) of pensions being paid and how the amount(s) specified against each pension(s) were calculated; a full statement of pension account.

It is frequently forgotten by both the FRS and the Firefighter that whilst this is the FRS Statutory duty in management of the Firefighter’s Pension Scheme it is also the commencement of a personal ‘Contract’ under Contract Law and should the FRS fail to pay the correct pension then in addition to a breach of Statutory Law they are in breach of Contract Law under Civil Law and can be sued on that basis alone.

In the examples which follow disabled FSVs should substitute their own data to establish the accuracy of their existing pensions, right from day 1 of payment, and their future corrective financial claims of under payment which have to be addressed promptly in repayment by the FRS, including Court and Statutory Compound interest at 8%  and as defined in the ‘Late Payment of Commercial Debt Act 1998’ (as amended) . Go Here.