Consultation outcome

Amendments to Firefighters’ Pension Scheme: retained firefighters - equalities impact assessment

Updated 4 December 2025

1. Name and outline of policy proposal, guidance, or operational activity

Title: The Firefighters’ Pension Schemes (England) (Amendment) Order 2025.

This order makes amendments to the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme (England) Order 2006. The purpose is to make various amendments to the Scheme relating to retained firefighters. These include amendments to introduce new awards which are payable following the death of a retained firefighter, to extend the deadline for their purchase of service during the extended limited period and to amend the eligibility criteria for some awards and conversions.

Following an Employment Tribunal^{[footnote 1]} (ET) determination (the Matthews case) that the denial of access to pension rights for retained firefighters constituted unfavourable treatment under the Part-Time Workers (Prevention of less Favourable treatment) Regulations 2000 which could not be justified, Fire and Rescue Authorities (FRAs) in England undertook an Options exercise (the ‘2014 Options exercise’) between 1 April 2014 and 30 September 2015 which gave eligible individuals the opportunity to join the modified scheme and purchase their historic service back to July 2000. This order will allow those individuals who did not get an opportunity to join in the 2014 Options exercise, an opportunity to join under the 2023 Options exercise.

In March 2014, shortly before the modified scheme was introduced, a related legal case raised the issue of whether part-time workers could include service from before 7 April 2000 for the purposes of calculating their pension entitlement. On 7 November 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union gave its decision that they should be able to include their full period of earlier service for pension entitlement.

At present, the modified scheme is restricted to service accrued by affected retained firefighters from 1 July 2000. The effect of the ruling was that there should not be this backstop date for any retained firefighters employed on or beyond 7 April 2000. The Home Office now intends to provide a further remedy (‘the Matthews remedy’) to implement the requirements of the Part Time Workers Regulations, as interpreted in line with this ruling.

On 9 March 2022, the Home Office, the Local Government Association (LGA), Fire Brigades Union (FBU), and the Fire and Rescue Services Association (FRSA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) relating to the delivery of Matthews remedy. The MOU set out that the remedy would be implemented through an 18-month long second options exercise.

The Home Office conducted a public consultation between 31 March and 9 June 2023 for retained firefighters’ pension to enable eligible individuals employed as retained firefighters between 7 April 2000 and 5 April 2006 to purchase their pre-July 2000 service and have this included in their pension entitlement.

The Home Office conducted a public consultation between 23 December 2024 and  17 February 2025 concerning amendments to the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme to introduce new awards which are payable following the death of a retained firefighter, to extend the deadline for individuals eligible for Matthews remedy to purchase of service during the extended limited period and to amend the eligibility criteria for some awards and conversions.

On 1 April 2025 responsibility for fire, including fire pension policy, moved from the Home Office to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government^{[footnote 2]}.

2. Introduction

This EIA explains how the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government have given due consideration and complied with our equalities duties under the Equality Act 2010 throughout the development of our policy proposals to introduce new awards which are payable following the death of a retained firefighter, to extend the deadline for individuals eligible for Matthews remedy to purchase of service during the extended limited period and to amend the eligibility criteria for some awards and conversions.

The changes will apply to any individual who:

• Died but would have been entitled to a pension (or a higher pension) under Matthews remedy

• Joined the modified scheme as special deferred members and have relevant standard service in the 2006 Scheme.

• Has periods of ‘opted out’ service in the standard 2006 Scheme.

• Join the modified scheme as special pensioner members, and who are in receipt of a ‘member initiated early payment of pension’.

• Were not able to make their choice to purchase service under the Matthews second options exercise by 31 March 2025.

3. Summary of the evidence considered in demonstrating due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government have considered the report produced by the Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) titled “Matthews Remedy: Analysis to Support the Equalities Impact Assessment Firefighters’ Pension Schemes (England) – August 2023” and the subsequent addition “Appendix C – Remedy amendments” dated August 2025. In producing that (combined) report, GAD considered evidence provided to the Local Government Association (LGA) by fifteen FRAs as part of a data collection exercise undertaken in December 2022. The FRAs were asked to identify and provide information on all retained firefighters eligible for the Matthews remedy.

The most recent data collected by the LGA in December 2022 did not cover all protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. Similarly, data for the entire retained workforce from the fire and rescue workforce and pensions statistics available online^{[footnote 3]} was not available for all protected characteristics. While the potential impact on the remaining equality groups below have been considered, the proposed changes will apply to all firefighters regardless of equality category as detailed below.

4. Consideration of the duty

The Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) is set out in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 and requires public authorities, in the exercise of their functions, to have due regard to the need to:

• eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the 2010 Act

• advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not

• foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not

This involves having due regard to the need to: a) remove or minimise disadvantages suffered by people due to their protected characteristics, and b) take steps to meet the needs of people from protected groups where these are different from the needs of other people.

This EIA should be read alongside the Amendments to the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme: retained firefighters consultation and government response.

4a. Consideration of limb 1 of the duty: Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation, and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act.

Age

Background

The 2023 GAD analysis shows the eligible population is substantially older than the current retained workforce, reflecting the historic period of service required for eligibility. Younger retained firefighters who joined on or after 6 April 2006 already have access to a scheme that is equivalent to the one that their peer regular-time firefighters have access to. The Mathews remedy is targeted to put those eligible retained firefighters into a position whereby they are provided similar benefits as those provided by the 1992 Scheme.

Analysis

The proposed amendments do not introduce any new age-based eligibility restrictions. The age profile is a direct consequence of the periods of service required for eligibility.

Individuals who died but would have been entitled to a pension (or a higher pension) under Matthews remedy will be older on average than the Matthews-eligible population, as mortality risk increases with age. Almost 90% of the potential 700 survivor claims estimated by GAD are in respect of expected deaths of individual above modified scheme normal retirement age.

Individuals who joined the modified scheme as special deferred members and have relevant standard service in the 2006 Scheme are expected on average to be slightly younger than the overall group of eligible individuals. GAD estimate there could be approximately 550 affected individuals with an average age at 2025 of 58. This compares with an average age of 60 for all eligible individuals (based on the December 2022 sample data).  This difference in average ages follows from the conditions for qualifying as a special deferred member and that the majority of eligible individuals now quality as special pensioner members while a minority are still in employment.

Individuals with periods of ‘opted out’ service in the standard 2006 Scheme would include a mixture of special deferred members (who would also now be eligible to convert relevant standard 2006 service) and younger special pensioners members, as they must have been in retained employment at some point between 2006 and 2015. They will also have opted out during this period before reaching retirement.  Consequently, while the affected group can’t be directly identified in the December 2022 sample data, GAD estimate affected individuals will have an average age similar to average age of 60 for all eligible individuals, but with a narrower spread of ages.

Individuals who join or joined the modified scheme as special pensioner members, and who are in receipt of a ‘member initiated early payment of pension’ will have retired before making their Matthews choice.  Therefore they will be older than the average age of all those eligible, as the latter will include those yet to reach retirement age. 

The Matthews second options exercise is currently in progress and there is only limited information about which eligible individuals have purchased service under the Matthews second options exercise by 31 March 2025.  For expedience surveys monitoring FRAs progress with the exercise have simply focussed on counting events^{[footnote 4]}. GAD referred to analysis of the 2014 Matthews options exercise outcome conducted as part of the 2020 Fire Pension Scheme valuation and equivalent analysis for devolved fire schemes.  Referring to analysis of the 2014 Matthews options exercise outcome conducted as part of the 2020 Fire Pension Scheme valuations, GAD’s analysis suggested potential scenarios.  These included those yet to purchase service being younger on average (as participation in the first exercise was higher for those already over special normal retirement age), and alternatively a wider age range with those yet to purchase service being more focused around those with a more distant connection to the scheme, i.e. with fewer typically younger eligible individuals in current employment or with an existing scheme pension.

Disability

There are no available data on these protected characteristics in relation to the eligible retained firefighters or Fire (England) retained workforce.

Gender reassignment

There are no available data on these protected characteristics in relation to the eligible retained firefighters or Fire (England) retained workforce.

Marriage and civil partnership

There are no available data on these protected characteristics in relation to the eligible retained firefighters or Fire (England) retained workforce.

Pregnancy and maternity

There are no available data on these protected characteristics in relation to the eligible retained firefighters or Fire (England) retained workforce, however the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government expect the number of affected persons with these protected characteristics to be very low given the data for age and sex.

Race

Data was analysed on ethnicity provided by the data collected by the LGA in December 2022 on eligible retained firefighters. However only half of the fifteen FRAs who provided data had information on this protected characteristic. From the FRAs that did provide information on ethnicity, c60% of the eligible retained firefighters identified as ‘white/white-British’, <1% identified as other^{[footnote 5]}, and c40% of the responses were ‘unknown’.

Similarly, the analysed subset of the retained workforce data as at 31 March 2022 showed that 90% identified as ‘white’, c2% identified as other^{[footnote 6]} and 8% of the responses had ‘ethnic origin not stated’.

The information available of eligible retained firefighters has a large proportion of the responses as ‘unknown’ and is not detailed enough to analyse the characteristics of those members who are eligible for remedy. Therefore, it is difficult to draw any meaningful conclusions on this protected characteristic.

Religion or belief

There is no available data on these protected characteristics in relation to the eligible retained firefighters or Fire (England) retained workforce.

Sex

Background

It is important to note that sex and gender are two different concepts; gender identity is not always the same as the sex assigned at birth, and some people may not identify as having a gender or as non-binary. Gender reassignment is also a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010.

Over all periods, males have made up the majority of the firefighter population. It is expected that there will be more male firefighters impacted by remedy than female firefighters. Over time, more females have joined the firefighter workforce.

Remedy applies to those retained firefighters who were employed during the period 7 April 2000 to 5 April 2006. Analysis at the outset of the Matthews second options exercise identified that those retained firefighters who are eligible for remedy and are aged 55 or below, are less likely to be female at every age than the current retained firefighter workforce.

Analysis

The proposed amendments do not introduce any new sex-based eligibility restrictions. The proportions of males and females affected is a direct consequence of the periods of service required for eligibility and the current and past demographics of the fire workforce.

Individuals who died but would have been entitled to a pension (or a higher pension) under Matthews remedy will reflect the majority of the eligible population which is male (91–97%^{[footnote 7]}). However, the beneficiaries from the amendment will be their surviving spouses, who it is assumed will be predominantly female.

The subset of the December 2022 sample data GAD judged best corresponds to individuals who joined the modified scheme as special deferred members and have relevant standard service in the 2006 Scheme was 95% male.  This is consistent with the overall eligible population.

There is no available data on sex which was sufficiently specific to the other groups of individuals affected by the proposed changes.  It is expected that the proportion of eligible women affected by these changes will reflect the proportion of females in the cohorts of eligible individuals affected.

Sexual orientation

There are no available data on these protected characteristics in relation to the eligible retained firefighters or Fire (England) retained workforce.

5. Summary of foreseeable impacts of policy proposal, guidance or operational activity on people who share protected characteristics

Protected Characteristic Group	Potential for Positive or Negative Impact?	Explanation	Action to address negative impact
Age	None	The proposed pension arrangements will apply to all retained firefighters who satisfy both the eligibility criteria for the Matthews second options exercise and those for each proposal. These criteria are irrespective of their current age, including for example dates of employment, existing scheme membership and/or death. It is inevitable that the proposed pension arrangements will apply to more individuals eligible to be special firefighter members in certain age ranges than others.  However, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is proposing these changes precisely to improve the fairness of special membership for all eligible individuals
Disability	None	The proposed pension arrangements will apply to all retained firefighters who satisfy the eligibility criteria, irrespective of any disability.
Gender reassignment	None	The proposed pension arrangements will apply to all retained firefighters who satisfy the eligibility criteria, irrespective of any gender reassignment.
Marriage and civil partnership	None	The pension arrangements do not explicitly make provision for marriage or civil partnerships. Under the general terms of the 2006 scheme which will apply, spouses, civil partners and unmarried partners will receive equal treatment in terms of survivor benefits as members of the modified scheme.
Pregnancy and maternity	None	Whilst the pension arrangements do not explicitly make provision for pregnancy and maternity leave, under the general terms of the 2006 scheme which will apply, members will still accrue pensionable service whilst on paid maternity leave, unpaid ordinary maternity leave, as well as any unpaid maternity leave on which the member has paid the required pension contributions. The same is applicable for paternity leave, ordinary adoption leave, paid adoption leave, as well as any unpaid adoption leave on which the member has paid the required pension contributions.
Race	Unknown	The proposed pension arrangements will apply to all retained firefighters who satisfy the eligibility criteria, irrespective of their race.
Religion or belief	None	The proposed pension arrangements will apply to all retained firefighters who satisfy the eligibility criteria, irrespective of their religion or belief.
Sex	None	The proposed pension arrangements will apply to all retained firefighters who satisfy the eligibility criteria, irrespective of their sex.
Sexual orientation	None	The proposed pension arrangements will apply to all retained firefighters who satisfy the eligibility criteria, irrespective of their sexual orientation.

6. In light of the overall policy objective, are there any ways to avoid or mitigate any of the negative impacts that you have identified above?

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has considered the impact of the proposed changes in the context of the PSED. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government have not been able to identify any differences of treatment between members who are the same but for one of the protected characteristics. The PSED is an ongoing duty, and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government will continue to consider and amend this assessment.

7. Review date

Ongoing.

8. Declaration

I have read the available evidence, and I am satisfied that this demonstrates compliance, where relevant, with section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 and that due regard has been made to the need to: eliminate unlawful discrimination; advance equality of opportunity; and foster good relations.

SCS sign off:

Name/Title: Michelle Warbis/Deputy Director

Directorate/Unit: Local Government Finance/Local Tax and Pensions

Lead contact: Anthony Mooney

Date: 7/11/2025

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1. Matthews v. Kent and Medway Towns Fire Authority (2006)” (‘the Matthews case’) under the Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 (‘the PTWR’). ↩

2. Machinery of Government: Statement made on 13 February 2025. ↩

3. Fire and rescue workforce and pensions statistics: England, April 2021 to March 2022. ↩

4. This data is collected by LGA as part of their quarterly Matthews project implementation survey (see pages 5 and 6). ↩

5. Asian, Asian British, Black, African, Caribbean or Black British, Mixed, or multiple ethnic groups or Other. ↩

6. Mixed, Asian, or Asian British, Black or Black British, Chinese or Other Ethnicity. ↩

7. Retained firefighters’ pension remedy: equality impact assessment. ↩