Resources Committee
Wednesday, 25 March 2026, at 10.00 amin the Main Conference Room, Service Headquarters, Fulwood.
Minutes
Present: |
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Councillors
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A Blake
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A Ali OBE (Chair)
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G Baker
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J Fox
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Z Khan MBE
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D Smith
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Officers |
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S Brown, Director of Corporate Services (LFRS) S Healey, Deputy Chief Fire Officer (LFRS) S Pink, Assistant Chief Fire Officer (LFRS) E Sandiford, Director of People and Development (LFRS) J Meadows, Head of Finance (LFRS) J Hutchinson, HR Manager - Pay, Pensions and Performance (LFRS) M Nolan, Clerk and Monitoring Officer to the Authority D Howell, Legal Service and Standards Manager and Deputy Monitoring Officer (LFRS) S Hunter, Member Services Manager (LFRS) L Barr, Member Services Officer (LFRS) |
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In attendance
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31-25/26 |
Apologies for Absence
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Apologies were received from County Councillors N Alderson, M Ritson, J Tetlow and Councillor S Sidat.
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32-25/26 |
Disclosure of Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests
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None received.
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33-25/26 |
Minutes of the Previous Meeting
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Resolved: That the Minutes of the last meeting held on 26 November 2025 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.
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34-25/26 |
Financial Monitoring 2025-2026
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The Director of Corporate Services (DoCS) advised members that this report set out the current budget position in respect of the 2025/26 revenue and capital budgets.
Revenue Budget Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service’s 2025/26 revenue budget had been set at £77.511 million. The budget profiled to the end of January 2026 was £61.604 million and expenditure for the same period was £61.403 million which was essentially breaking even.
The budget included £0.5 million of savings to be delivered through effective deployment of resources and effective management of overtime, management information showed that overtime had been avoided and therefore the service was forecasting that these savings would be met.
Overall, a small underspend was forecast of £0.184 million, which was just 0.2% of the services net budget. The year to date and forecast positions within all departmental budgets were set out in Appendix 1 of the report, with the major variances of note shown separately in table 1.
Table 1 – Major variances of note
Future Pressures Although not reflected in the 2026/27 budget set in February, the escalating conflict in the Middle East presented a growing financial risk. Geopolitical instability had already contributed to higher than assumed inflation, particularly in energy markets, with utility costs tracking above 6% compared to the 2% inflation assumption underpinning the budget. This sustained volatility could increase pressures on fuel, utilities, supply chain dependent non‑pay budgets, and capital project costs throughout the year. Given the continued uncertainty in global markets, these factors had the potential to create additional in year pressures and would require close monitoring and potential adjustment within future financial planning cycles.
The 2026/27 budget included a 4% increase for both green and grey book pay awards. National negotiations for the 2026 pay awards were underway. For Green Book staff (effective April 2026), the recognised National Joint Council (NJC) unions had submitted a formal pay claim seeking a minimum increase of £3,000 or 10%, alongside a £15 minimum hourly rate and improvements to working time and leave. Employers had not yet tabled a counter‑offer, with a response expected later in March. For Grey Book staff (effective July 2026), the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) had initiated discussions and was pressing for a substantial above‑inflation increase, although no specific figures or employer proposals had yet been published. The service would continue to monitor national negotiations and update Members once formal offers were issued.
Savings Targets To deliver the £0.5 million savings required for 2025/26 the Dynamic Resource Management (DRM) policy came into effect on 1 July which provided steps which could be taken prior to using overtime to fill shortfalls, including using the fifth crew member from the Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) stations and redistributing the crew from second pumps at two pump wholetime stations where there was adequate fire cover in the area. The saving target had been delivered.
The Productivity and Efficiency Plan for 2025/26 included £0.572 million of savings to be delivered in 2025/26; the delivery of £0.5 million had been explained above. The balance of £0.072 million was a balance of some smaller initiatives such as procurement savings, this would be reported through the update of progress against the plan later in the year.
General Reserve The General Reserve existed to cover unforeseen risks and expenditure that may be incurred outside of planned budgets. In February 2026 the Authority approved the minimum level of General Reserve as advised by the Treasurer at £4 million.
The year end forecasted general fund position is summarised below which was above the minimum level of General Reserve approved by the Authority:
Table 2 - year end forecasted general fund position
Capital Budget The revised Capital Programme for 2025/26 was approved by the Authority at £7.190 million, to date £4.371 million had been spent to the end of January. A summary of the programme was set out in the table below and in more detail in Appendix 2 of the report.
Table 3 - revised capital programme
In addition, further slippage of £0.019 million relating to ICT was requested to be transferred to the 2026/27 capital programme.
Potential Financial Risks There were several potential scenarios that had not been reflected in this monitoring report that, if they materialise, may give rise to an increase in revenue and capital expenditure. To provide some information about potential significant financial risks these had been quantified to provide an estimated worst-case scenario, these were set out in Appendix 3 of the report. Taking all these risks overall and adjusted for the remainder of the year, a potential worst-case scenario would impact the Revenue Budget and Capital Budget accordingly:
Table 4 – potential worst-case scenario revenue budget and capital budget
The potential worst-case scenario could be funded from available budgets but would reduce the general fund balance to below the minimum acceptable level agreed by the CFA.
Councillor D Smith praised officers for keeping within 0.2% of the budget.
In response to a question from the Chair in relation to protections for emergency services should the conflict in the Middle East lead to fuel rationing, the Deputy Chief Fire Officer (DCFO) explained that arrangements were in place through the Lancashire Resilience Forum (LRF) to ensure that emergency services had access to fuel before the general public. He added that during previous fuel rationing, emergency services staff had been able to show their ID badges to be given priority access to fuel. He assured members that the issue was high on both internal and LRF risk registers.
In response to a question from County Councillor A Blake in relation to the service holding stores of fuel, the DCFO explained that the service had bulk fuel supplies at some stations and did carry reserves however it was important to note that fuel did expire. He added that access to fuel was not a great concern for the service at the minute however this would continue to be assessed. The Assistant Chief Fire Officer (ACFO) added that the UK National Emergency Plan for fuel ensured that emergency services were prioritised, and the service would ensure its voice was heard by government through the LRF.
In response to a question from Councillor D Smith in relation to electric fire engines, the ACFO confirmed that electric fire engines were used in London but were very expensive and were better for shorter distances, she suggested that hydrogen vehicles could be better options for the future. The DCFO added that the service had begun to introduce electric vehicles for its flexi duty officers which afforded significant savings for the service. Electric vehicles would continue to be introduced with the view to all flexi duty officer vehicles being electric within the next five years.
The DCFO confirmed that a briefing note would be circulated to members in relation to the services’ access to fuel.
The report was proposed by the chair and seconded by County Councillor J Fox.
Resolved: That the Committee;
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35-25/26 |
Social Value Report: Blackpool Fire Station
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The Director of Corporate Services (DoCS) presented the report to members.
The report outlined the Social Value outcomes delivered by Schofield and Sons Limited as part of the Blackpool Fire Station (Forest Gate) project. The Blackpool Fire Station project involved a full redevelopment and modernisation of the station to ensure the facilities met current and future operational requirements. The scheme included significant refurbishment of the existing building, upgrades to operational spaces, improvements to welfare and training areas, and general estate enhancements to create a safer, more efficient and fit for purpose working environment for firefighters and support staff. The capital works were designed to extend the life of the asset, improve functionality, and ensure the station could continue to support effective emergency response within the Blackpool area.
Social Value Background As part of the Authority’s procurement processes, major contracts included Social Value commitments to ensure that service investment delivered wider benefits for the communities LFRS served. This approach reflected the requirements of the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012, which placed a duty on public bodies to consider how the goods, services or works they buy could also improve the social, economic and environmental wellbeing of the area.
In practice, this meant that when the service awarded contracts, it did not focus solely on cost or technical quality. LFRS also considered how the supplier could contribute to wider outcomes; for example by supporting local jobs and skills, offering work experience or training opportunities, using local supply chains, or delivering community projects that added value beyond the core construction works.
These Social Value requirements were therefore built into the services procurement activity from the outset, forming part of the evaluation, the contract, and the monitoring arrangements. The Social Value Report had been completed to demonstrate how these commitments had been delivered in line with the Authority’s expectations.
Overview of the Project and Delivery The Blackpool Forest Gate Fire Station project generated a wide range of Social Value activities. These included:
The contractor exceeded the overall Social Value target of £255,950.57 by £158,951.36, delivering a total of £414,901.93 in recorded social and economic benefit. This reflected substantial additional investment in local suppliers, high‑impact educational and employability activities, and tangible improvements within the local community.
Resolved: That the Committee noted the contents of the report.
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36-25/26 |
Pensions Update
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The Director of People and Development (DoPD) and HR Manager – Pay, Pensions and Performance presented the report to members which provided oversight and the latest information on pension issues in respect of uniformed officers of the Fire Service.
Internal Disputes Resolution Procedure (IDRP) – Stage 2 Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS) had several cases that had previously progressed through both stages of the IDRP process. These related to the payment of pensionable allowances within LFRS. Some members remained dissatisfied, particularly regarding the limitation of backdated allowances to six years or the classification of allowances as non-pensionable when applied to temporary roles. The Pensions Ombudsman had contacted the Service regarding these cases. While LFRS had provided the relevant information, no formal outcomes had been received to date.
A further IDRP application had recently been submitted for consideration by the Committee. This was related to the Age Discrimination Remedy (McCloud/Sargeant).
Firefighter’s Pension Scheme Member Contribution Structure Consultation During 2024/25 the government conducted a consultation on proposed amendments to the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme (England) Regulations 2014. The objectives of the consultation were to:
On 8 December 2025, the outcome was published confirming that, with effect from 1 April 2026, the contribution structure would be amended as follows:
This change affected all employees who were members of the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme 2015, resulting in either an increase or decrease in employee contributions. This change had been communicated to employees.
FRA’s were expected to have an appropriate policy in place to determine employee contribution bandings.
Information Consultation on the Firefighters’ Compensation Scheme for injury and death The Local Government Association (LGA) launched an informal consultation on 6 March 2026 relating to the Firefighters’ Compensation Scheme (FCS). The FCS provided compensation for injury and death, in the form of an injury pension or gratuity for firefighters who were permanently disabled or died as a result of an injury received in the exercise of their duties. The consultation formed part of an initial review commissioned by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to ensure the scheme remained fair, effective and reflective of the modern firefighting role. The information consultation period ended on 14 April 2026.
Age Discrimination Remedy (McCloud/Sargeant) In 2015, the government introduced new laws which resulted in a new pension scheme for firefighters - the Firefighters' Pension Scheme 2015 (FPS 2015). These laws included protections which meant that some members of the existing schemes (FPS 1992 and FPS 2006) didn't join FPS 2015 either straight away or at all, depending on their age. Following a legal challenge known as McCloud/Sargeant, the courts determined that the protections given to members were age discriminatory.
From 1 April 2022 all existing employees who were members of the pension scheme were moved to the reformed scheme, FPS 2015. The service was currently implementing retrospective remedy, providing eligible members with a choice to receive legacy pension benefits (FPS 1992 or FPS 2006) or reformed pension benefits (FPS 2015) for the period of discrimination (01.04.2015 – 31.03.2022).
The implementation of retrospection involved a statutory requirement to issue a Remediable Service Statement (RSS) to all members affected by age discrimination by 31 March 2025. This was a requirement for all public service pension schemes and had been a challenge across the sector. The table below showed the breakdown of the RSSs issued and the numbers outstanding which had been updated since the agenda reports had been published.
The delay in issuing RSSs was due to a range of factors, including the delay in the issue of final government guidance, data processing challenges, software defects and the need to enact the Part-Time Workers remedy (Matthews) before progressing with McCloud related options.
The Pension Scheme Manager reported a breach to The Pensions Regulator (TPR) in relation to cases where guidance was available, but the Local Pensions Partnership Administration (LPPA) failed to issue an RSS. As part of this breach, an action plan was developed with LPPA to ensure the issue of the outstanding RSSs. The remainder of the RSSs were expected to be issued by 31 March 2026, with the beneficiary calculations being issued by 30 June 2026.
LPPA continue to prioritise the issue of RSSs but had reported a risk in relation to 54 of the 80 outstanding Immediate Choice (IC)-RSSs. 31 of these cases had an interaction with the Matthews part-time remedy, LPPA were currently experiencing production issues and were working with their software suppliers to resolve this issue. LPPA had informed LFRS that these IC-RSSs would not be issued by the 31 March 2026 deadline. A further 23 cases were at risk of not being issued, most of these cases related to data validation errors. LPPA would make every effort to issues these cases by 31 March 2026 and were prioritising unprotected and taper protected members, but these cases were complex to resolve and required specialised resource requirement from LPPA. The Scheme Manager had provided an update to The Pensions Regulator in relation to this breach and would provide a further update following the 31 March 2026 deadline.
73 IC members had opted for alternative pension benefits. LPPA commenced the payment of retrospective pensions in October 2025, and 59 members had had their pension adjusted as at the end of February 2026. LPPA continued to process payments for the remaining 14 pensioners.
A number of IC members had yet to make their election. The 12-month deadline for many of these members was approaching at the end of March 2026. If these members failed to decide by the 12-month deadline, a deemed election would be made by the Scheme Manager, this decision was irrevocable. LPPA and LFRS were making efforts to contact these members, particularly the tapered or unprotected members ahead of the deadline date.
The Service acknowledged the concerns of affected former firefighters and was actively working with LPPA to ensure the remaining IC-RSS statements were issued to members by 31 March 2026 and to bereavement cases by June 2026.
The Pensions Regulator had acknowledged the breaches and deferment and had not requested any further information.
The failure to issue RSSs had applied across all Fire Authorities in respect of the Firefighter pension schemes. Indications across the public sector pension schemes and the fire sector suggested that LPPA remained ahead of the position nationally in terms of the implementation of remedy.
Contingent Decisions The firefighter remedy regulations provided for some decisions made by members during the remedy period to be revisited. This included decisions to opt out of the pension scheme and whether a firefighter would have purchased additional years in their legacy scheme had they been allowed to remain in it.
LFRS had received 16 contingent decisions opt-out claims, which had been accepted by the Pension Scheme Manager. 11 of the 16 contingent decisions were from members purchasing service under the Part-Time Workers remedy (Matthews 2). A contingent decision was a decision taken by a member who may have taken a different decision if there had been no changes to the pension scheme. These individuals were due to be issued with a Contingent Decision Remediable Service Statement (CD-RSS) so that they could decide whether to make an election to opt back into their legacy scheme for the remedy period. These were yet to be issued as the Contingent Decision guidance from the Local Government Association (LGA) had been withdrawn. Questions raised by the LGA, trade unions and employers in relation to the contingent decision provisions in remedy legislation were yet to be resolved. The Home Office had taken legal advice to provide clarity over which pension schemes were available for individuals to opt back into.
Further guidance from the LGA to scheme managers was published in September 2025. This guidance allowed for members who opted out of the FPS 2006, or where an FPS 1992 member opted out during remedy period and did not rejoin during the remedy period to be processed. All other types of cases remained on hold pending further guidance.
Part Time Workers (Matthews 2) Remedy The Matthews remedy for part-time workers involved a series of steps to ensure that On Call firefighters could access pension schemes.
The Service had identified over 600 existing and former employees who were eligible to express an interest in joining or purchasing additional pension under the Modified Pension Scheme. Reasonable endeavours had been made to contact all eligible individuals, including multiple follow-up letters and the use of a tracing service. These efforts were on-going.
To date, 420 individuals had expressed an interest, and 355 calculations/options packs had been issued. The calculations could be complicated and, occasionally requiring data going back as far as the 1960’s and 1970’s. So far, 259 individuals had elected to join or purchase additional pension.
LPPA had implemented a process to facilitate backdated pensions to Special Pensioner Members. These were On Call firefighters who were employed between 7 April 2000 and 5 April 2006. They were eligible to join the Firefighters Pension Scheme 2006 with retrospective membership to the start date of their employment, which for a small number of these cases dated back as far as the late 1960’s. Payments began in March 2025, with 106 individuals having received backdated lump sum and pension payments to date.
The historical nature of these claims, including reverting back to the individuals original ‘date entered service’, posed difficulties in respect of service progression and payroll information. Issues over tax treatment had also not been resolved.
As a result of the difficulties and issues that had arisen, the Government had undertaken a consultation. This consultation considered making changes to the original legislation including extending the deadline. The outcome of the consultation was published on 4 December 2025; it was expected that the legislation would come into effect no later than 1 April 2026. It was anticipated that the legislation would include a 12-month period from the date of publication in which fire authorities and pension administrators must fully implement the legislation and resolve outstanding cases.
The proposed amendments related to deceased members, the payment of additional death grants and conversion options. The fire authority would need to review cases from both the first and second options exercises.
An area that remained of some concern was no mechanism had been finalised to deal with aggregation. This was where an on-call employee subsequently achieved a wholetime role and would wish to combine both pension scheme benefits. Unless an agreement was reached by the government and Fire Brigades Union (FBU), the issue of disqualifying breaks in service would need to be addressed through the legal process in 2026 before aggregation would be dealt with in 2027. The Authority had agreed to the LGA proposal to jointly participate with other Fire Authorities in cost sharing in respect of any legal costs. The three case types to be resolved were:
· Retained duty system (RDS) firefighters who, without a break in service, changed to become whole-time firefighters at some stage between 7 April 2000 and 6 April 2006, and who joined the FPS 1992 in respect of their wholetime service. · RDS firefighters who, without a break in service, changed to become wholetime firefighters on or after 6 April 2006, and who joined the FPS 2006 Standard scheme in respect of their wholetime service. · Firefighters with concurrent retained and wholetime service.
The national Scheme Advisory Board (SAB) had written to HMRC to highlight their concerns that no ‘spreading mechanism’ had been put in place for members affected by the Matthews remedy receiving pension backpay, over a number of years, taking them into a higher tax bracket. A spreading mechanism had been put in place for employees affected by the McCloud/Sergeant Age Discrimination remedy.
In addition, the SAB were engaged with MHCLG in relation to a compensation framework, to assist employees and former employees with tax advice and the potential costs of reopening an estate for a deceased member.
Resources In addition to the LFRS resources, the LPPA had increased their resource to deal with this workload. Both sections were working extensively on age discrimination and part-time workers remedy in addition to the business-as-usual workloads.
It was likely that the government would extend the deadline for completion of the Part-Time Workers (Matthews 2) exercise to March 2027; this would allow for LFRS to complete existing workloads and any required changes as a result of the legislative changes.
The challenge of implementing two significant, complex pieces of pension legislation, affecting large numbers of individuals concurrently was not to be under-estimated.
To create capacity sufficient for the implementation of the above two projects, the Temporary Pensions Coordinator role was filled on a casual basis and the postholder was predominantly supporting the administration of the Part Time Workers (Matthews 2) exercise. This temporary post continued until 31.03.2026.
Dashboards The Pensions Dashboard Programme continued to publish regular updates and newsletters in the lead-up to the pension schemes beginning their connections in April 2025. The connection date for public sector pension schemes into the central digital architecture was 31 October 2025. LPPA’s completed connection of schemes to the dashboard’s infrastructure by 15 December 2025.
Following this connection, the government would issue LPPA with a Dashboard Available Point (DAP). This was the date when the pension dashboard would become publicly available. This date was set by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and would provide a minimum of six months’ advance notice. In preparation for this date, LPPA would continue to cleanse member records, verifying data calculations and ensuring matching criteria were correct.
The Pension dashboard Programme (PDP) had published an updated draft of its reporting standards and opened a consultation on the changes. The update explained how pension schemes and providers would need to send daily reporting data to Money and Pension Service (MaPS) using a software interface, but it did not change what data must be collected or reported. The proposed deadline to implement the new standards was 30 November 2026, and the consultation was open until 25 March 2026. LPPA’s Dashboards Working Group intended to respond to this consultation.
Councillor D Smith remarked that this was a complex and challenging subject and thanked officers for explaining the content of the report well.
Resolved: That the committee noted the report and its implications for pension administration and member communication.
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37-25/26 |
Date and Time of Next Meeting
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The next meeting of the Committee would be held on Monday 29 June 2026 at 1000 hours in the Main Conference Room at Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service Headquarters, Fulwood.
Further meeting dates were noted for 30 September 2026 and 25 November 2026.
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38-25/26 |
Exclusion of Press and Public
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39-25/26 |
Internal Disputes Resolution Procedure (IDRP) - Stage 2
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(Paragraph 1)
Members considered a report regarding an IDRP Stage 2 application under the Internal Disputes Resolution Procedure. The report outlined the facts of the case.
Resolved: That members approved a response to the applicant in line with the narrative included within the report, noting that the Committee did not have jurisdiction to make decisions that were incompatible with prevailing legislation.
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40-25/26 |
High Value Procurement Projects
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(Paragraph 3)
Members considered a report that provided an update on contracts valued above £175,000.
Resolved: That the Committee noted and endorsed the report.
Councillor D Smith noted that it was the Clerk and Monitoring Officer’s final committee meeting, members expressed their thanks and well wishes to the Clerk for his ten years’ service.
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