The NFPS provides those employees who were employed as retained firefighters prior to 5 April 2006 with pension benefits in respect of that period.

Such members are known as Special members in the NFPS and have a different benefit structure to other members of the NFPS. In particular, Special members:

• Accrue benefits at a rate of 1/45 of Final Pensionable Pay for each year and part year of Pensionable Service
• Have a Normal Retirement Age of 55, and a normal benefit age of 60

A member may have a combination of Standard and Special benefits within the NFPS.

This situation may occur where:

• The member elects to purchase Special member deferred benefits, but also chooses not to convert Standard NFPS benefits accrued in respect of post April 2006 service, or
• An active firefighter member elects to convert Standard NFPS benefits, but subsequently defaults on the periodic payments required to complete this purchase, with the default occurring prior to the Club transfer/CETV calculation date.

Club transfers/CETVs for the member's Standard and Special benefits should be calculated separately, based on the Standard and Special factors in force at the calculation date using relevant the formulae in sections Club transfers out and Statutory CETV transfers out (as appropriate).

The member's total NFPS Club transfer/CETV will be the sum of the Club transfer/CETV in respect of their Standard NFPS benefits and the Club transfer/CETV in respect of their Special NFPS benefits.

This section is applicable to any special member who, as at the Club transfer/CETV calculation date, has fully purchased the benefits on their record.

The full service credit or pension benefits stored on the member's record should be valued in the CETV. For the avoidance of doubt, where any member has been awarded a pro-rated service credit following a default on periodic contributions, it is the pro-rated benefits that should be valued.

Firefighters and ex-firefighters who elect to purchase Special benefits are required to pay backdated employee contributions. They may choose to purchase this either as an immediate lump sum payment or as a series of monthly contributions ('periodic payments'). Pensioner members do not have the option to pay through periodic contributions.

The policy directed by DCLG (the government department previously responsible for the Firefighters' Pension Schemes), and continued by HO, is that benefits in respect of any member who elected to pay through periodic payments but has not completed these payments prior to the Club transfer/CETV calculation date should be pro-rated prior to the calculation of their Club transfer/CETV.

The pro-rating approach should be applied to both transfer out (whether Club transfer or Statutory CETV) and CETVs for divorce.

For the avoidance of doubt, this approach is not suitable for calculating the Club transfer/CETV in respect of a member who has ceased paying periodic contributions following a default on their payments. Any such members should be valued using the approach set out in section Special benefits purchased by lump sum, or purchased by periodic payments which have ceased before the calculation date.

We understand that following a transfer out of the NFPS scheme, a Special member will lose their entitlement to continue their purchase of Special benefits, and, as such, their periodic contributions should cease once the transfer has been completed.

There may be alternative legal interpretations of the benefit structure to be valued for members who are still making periodic payments as at the Club transfer/CETV calculation date. If for any reason it is not appropriate for the member's Club transfer/CETV to be calculated in line with methodology outlined above, the case should be referred to GAD for further consideration.

For any member with more than one election to purchase Special benefits, the elections should be treated separately using the relevant approach for each election.

To calculate Special service to be valued for any member who has elected to purchase Special service but not elected to convert Standard service, the following formula should be used:

Accrued Special service = (SPS × PC/TPC) + ASP

Where:

SPS is total Special service the member elected to purchase in their Matthews option

PC is the number of periodic payments that have been paid as at the Club transfer/CETV calculation date

TPC is the number of periodic payments that were anticipated at the time of the Matthews election

ASP is additional Special service accrued between the option election date and the Club transfer/CETV calculation date

The accrued Special service calculated above should be valued using the approach for Special benefits set out in sections Club transfers out and Statutory CETV transfers out (as appropriate).

To calculate the Special and Standard service to be valued for any member who has elected to purchase Special service and elected to convert Standard service to Special service, the following formulas should be used:

Accrued Special service = (SPS × PC/TPC) + (SDS × PC/TPC) + ASP

Accrued Standard service = SDS × (1 - PC/TPC)

Where:

SPS is total Special service the member elected to purchase in their Matthews option

SDS is total Standard service the member elected to convert as part of their Matthews option

PC is the number of periodic payments that have been paid as at the Club transfer/CETV calculation date

TPC is the number of periodic payments that were anticipated at the time of the Matthews election

ASP is additional Special service accrued between the option election date and the Club transfer/CETV calculation date

The accrued Special service and Standard service calculated above should be valued using the approach for the relevant benefits set out in sections Club transfers out and Statutory CETV transfers out (as appropriate).

To calculate the Standard service to be valued for any member who has elected to purchase Special service and elected to convert benefits from Special to Standard, the following formula should be used:

Accrued Standard service = (SPC × PC/TPC) + ASD

Where:

SPC is the total Standard service credit to be awarded in respect of Special service the member elected to purchase and convert as part of their Matthews option, and any additional Standard service purchased.

PC is the number of periodic payments that have been paid as at the Club transfer/CETV calculation date

TPC is the number of periodic payments that were anticipated at the time of the Matthews election

ASD is additional Standard service accrued between the member's date of joining the NFPS and the Club transfer/CETV calculation date

No additional Special benefits should be valued in respect of this member.

The accrued Standard service calculated above should be valued using the approach for Standard benefits set out in sections Club transfers out and Statutory CETV transfers out (as appropriate).