The Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Local Pension Board of the Firefighters' Pension Scheme met on Monday 3 November 2025. The agenda included a governance and policy update, a firefighter pension administration update, a risk review, and a review of the forward plan. The board was also scheduled to discuss the Fire and Rescue Pension Board Chair's annual report.

Firefighter Pension Administration Update

The board was scheduled to discuss a Firefighter Pension Administration Update, and to note and comment on the administration report provided by West Yorkshire Pension Fund (WYPF) ¹ in September 2025.

According to the report, West Yorkshire Pension Fund had achieved 100% of its key performance indicators with the exception of pension estimates, which were delayed due to the volume of requests, and deferred benefits set up on leaving, which were behind schedule due to high volumes of work, although the statutory requirements had been met.

The board was also scheduled receive an update on the second retained exercise, which enables retained firefighters to buy back pension service in the 2006 scheme prior to 1 July 2000, if they meet certain criteria. Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Authority had identified 155 people in scope for the project, with 93 people having returned forms to express an interest in receiving further information on pension benefits and cost. As of 30 September 2025, the authority had calculated and sent further information to 69 members, with 51 returning a positive election, and their information having been sent to West Yorkshire Pension Fund for processing.

The age discrimination remedy² was also scheduled to be discussed. Active members of the fund in scope for the age discrimination remedy were receiving their Annual Benefit Statement (ABS) remedial service statements (RSS) for 2024 and 2025, with 87% of members having received their information as of 30 September 2025. Active members who had the 2006 scheme as their legacy scheme were able to claim a refund of contributions, and payments had begun to members who had returned forms requesting a refund. Active members who had the 1992 and 2006 modified scheme as their legacy schemes had a payment owed to the fund should they wish for the affected period to be classed as their legacy scheme, and information on how to make this payment had been circulated to affected staff. Deferred members of the fund in scope for the age discrimination process were expected to receive their RSS for 2024 during September and October, and West Yorkshire Pension Fund aimed to produce the RSS for 2025 by February 2026. Pensioners affected would continue to be processed manually, however processes were being tested that may enable bulk calculations. Communications for these members were issued in August and further communications were scheduled for December 2025.

The West Yorkshire Pension Fund report included in the Firefighter Pension Administration Update also contained the following information:

• To date, 144 Matthews payments had been processed.
• There were 143 cases where claim forms had been received, and payments were being worked on.
• The special pensioner data was being compiled into a master spreadsheet.
• Aleama Saddiq had commenced maternity leave.
• Roseline Umenjoh and Ebony Margerison had been appointed as senior pensions officers.
• Sukwinder Kaur and Bernadette Forrest-Ellison had been successful in their promotion to acting up senior pensions officer within the team.
• A member services manager was due to commence on 27 October.
• A recruitment exercise for a new Matthews Team had begun, and an internal appointment to a new team manager role in this team was expected by the end of September.
• All returns for all Fire and Rescue Authorities for March had been posted, which enabled the production of Annual Benefit Statements and Remedial Service Statements. Some uploads had been paused to enable rollback, and the focus was now on April returns for all Fire and Rescue Authorities.
• The annual employer's satisfaction survey had been completed, and the results were being considered.
• A webinar had been organised to give members the opportunity to learn more about their pension scheme, running in line with Pensions Awareness Week, kicking off on Monday 15 September 2025.
• The dashboard was still on track for go live on 31 October.
• The public access date was still unknown, but the Department for Work and Pensions would provide 6 months' notice of the date.
• All Fire and Rescue Authorities had provided their registration codes and confirmation that West Yorkshire Pension Fund were to be their dashboard provider, with the exception of two Fire and Rescue Authorities, who were asked to treat this as urgent and send the information as soon as possible.

Governance and Policy Update

The board was scheduled to note and comment on the governance and regulatory updates affecting firefighter pension schemes.

Officers had created an action plan in relation to the recent governance review for the Firefighters' Pension Schemes against the Pension Regulator's Code of Practice, with an aim to complete all actions by 31 August 2026. 63 actions were needed to ensure 100% compliance. Updates would be given in each board meeting on progress, with actions RAG rated to aid understanding of project position. All actions were currently rated green due to the project beginning implementation.

The areas with the highest number of actions were Scheme Administration, Board Structure and Activities and Risk Management. The first policy to be created would be the Recruitment and Retention Policy, which would address actions needed for compliance in the Board Structure and Activities section.

Policies that would require updating as part of the review included:

• Terms of reference
• Recruitment and retention Policy
• Breaches policy
• Risk Policy

Officers would also be working with West Yorkshire Pension Fund to ensure all sections that require input by the administrator are completed.

The Pension Regulator launched its new pensions dashboards connection campaign on 28 August, targeting those schemes due to connect over the coming months. The campaign aimed to continue to drive improved awareness and understanding of what Scheme Managers need to do to ensure they are ready to meet their dashboard duties.

The core messages of the campaign for schemes were:

• Data is vital - Quality data is the foundation of dashboards. Now is the time to clean up any issues
• Teamwork is key - Everyone has a role to play in data preparation. It's a team effort.
• Every connection counts - Connecting members to dashboards will fundamentally change retirement planning.
• Act now - Make sure you are dashboards-ready.

Since April 2025, hundreds of pension providers and schemes have joined the pensions dashboards ecosystem - connecting over 40 million workplace and private pension records, more than half of all UK pension records. The connection date for the firefighter pension schemes remains 31 October 2025. The date for digital access for members of the public is yet to be announced.

The Firefighter Pension Scheme AGM was held on 17 and 18 September. Officers attended and heard updates around cyber security, the Pension Regulator Code of Practice and Pension Dashboards. Presenters included the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), Government Actuary Department and Scheme Advisory Board.

The Local Government Association had launched Local Pension Board Training. Available dates were Thursday 22 January 2026 10:00 – 14:00 (MS Teams). Refresher training was also available from the Local Government Association for Local Pension Board Members who require training but are not new to the Pension Board. This was scheduled for 8 December 2025 via teams 1pm -3.30pm.

Risk Review

The board was scheduled to consider and comment upon the Risk Review report and the risk register.

The Pensions Administration Service within the council maintains the risk register in order to manage the risks facing the administration of the Firefighters' Pension Schemes. Risks are identified and responsibility is allocated to either Warwickshire County Council as the Scheme Manager or West Yorkshire Pension Fund as the third-party administrator.

The risk register is reviewed by senior officers on a quarterly basis. During the review, the score for each named risk is considered and any new risk controls or causes are added to the register to document the changes. Following the most recent review of the risk register, no updates had been made.

The risk map included in the Risk Review report, identified the following risks:

• Pandemic (Administration and People Related)
• Inability to meet demand for activity
• Lack of capacity or competence to act as intelligent client and effective Scheme Manager
• Business interruption
• Cyber security
• Data Quality
• Fraud or corruption
• Governance Failure
• Dashboard readiness
• 2nd modified exercise

Forward Plan

The board was scheduled to consider and comment on the Forward Plan. The purpose of the plan is to consider items to be reviewed and discussed by the board at future meetings and to set out the training undertaken by members of the board.

Members of the board are encouraged to complete the Pensions Regulator's toolkit training if they have not done so already, and officers can help with access if required. A training log for board members is maintained and members are asked to liaise with officers to confirm the training attended, watched or undertaken.

The Forward Plan included the following items:

• Monthly administration report from West Yorkshire
• Governance and Regulatory update Compliance with General code of Practice report – Governance Action Plan
• Risk monitoring
• Forward Plan
• Chair's Report
• Policies
  • Terms of reference
  • Abatement
  • Discretions
  • Conflicts of Interest
• Training

Fire and Rescue Pension Board Chair's Annual Report

The board was scheduled to discuss the Fire and Rescue Pension Board Chair's Annual Report.

The Public Service Pensions Act 2013 introduced a framework for the governance and administration of public service pension schemes, including the establishment of Local Pension Boards. The Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Local Pension Board of the Firefighter's Pension Scheme (the Board ) was thus established. The Terms of Reference for the Board were last approved by Council in February 2023.

By law the Scheme Manager for the Firefighter Pension Schemes is the County Council in its capacity as a Fire and Rescue Authority. In practice this function has been delegated to the Director of Resources (the County Council's Section 151 Officer) and further sub-delegated to the Director of Finance.

The report noted that:

• Mr Martin Reohorn had been the Independent Chair for the whole period.
• Meetings are held four times a year on a quarterly basis with an agreed programme of reports.
• Meetings are normally held virtually and advertised on the Authority's website, with one meeting a year being held in person.
• There have been no members of the public attending meetings to date, although the February meeting was attended by Councillor George Jabbour, Chair of the (LGPDS) Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Joint Committee as an observer.
• The meeting agenda and papers, together with the minutes of the previous meeting, are published on the Authority's website 5 days prior to the meeting date.
• Overall attendance for the four meetings that took place was 60%. (2023/24 54%)
• Board members are required to declare any potential conflicts of interest to the Scheme Manager prior to each meeting, in line with the Local Firefighter Pension Board's Conflicts of Interest Policy.
• The Pensions Regulator has published a Code of Practice for the governance and administration of public service pension schemes and this code sets out the requirement for Board members to achieve and maintain knowledge and understanding sufficient to enable them to carry out the role of Board member. Board members and supporting officers have been made aware of the Code and its requirements
• There have been several training opportunities for the Board, including:
  • Introduction to the Fire-fighters Pension schemes
  • McCloud/Sargeant
  • New Member Training
  • online training available on the Pension Regulator website which members of the Board are encouraged to complete.
• Each Board member has completed a training needs analysis and the Board has a Training Policy. A record of all training is maintained by the Scheme Manager.
• In addition, the Board Chair regularly attends national Local Government Association Pensions Board events, including the October AGM.
• Since the Local Firefighter Pension Board was set up in 2015, the work of the Board has been shaped by the Board members and by Officers supporting the Board.
• The overhaul of the governance arrangements for Firefighter Pension Schemes has continued including a review of policies and training for members of the Board.
• The Board receives regular reports including
  • a report from the Pension Administration Team.
  • review of Scheme statistics
  • updates on data quality measures in line with the Pensions Regulators requirements
  • updates on current pension issues.
  • the Fire Pension Risk Register.
  • overview of Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure cases (but not individual cases) and any breaches
• The Board received updates on the progress of implementation of legislation relating to the Age Discrimination Remedy (Sargeant/McCloud), the implications for the Scheme and Scheme Members, and sought assurances that the Scheme Manager and administrator are doing everything possible to progress Remedy and ensure Scheme Members receive the information and pension they are entitled to, and that the Scheme Manager is communicating with all Members in a timely and appropriate manner
• The Board has continued to monitor the Scheme Managers progress for the second round of access to the modified scheme (Matthews), sought assurances that all eligible individuals have been identified and has been pleased that all measures to contact those identified are being taken, and challenged the Scheme to ensure appropriate pressure is placed on the Administrator to progress relevant payments as soon as is practicable.
• The Board was also very pleased to note that the Council was making arrangements for external assessment of compliance with the new Pensions Regulator's Code, and was ahead of the rest of the fire sector in doing this.