This note is provided to the Welsh Government as scheme manager of the Firefighters' Pension Scheme 2015 in Wales.

Welsh Ministers, as responsible authority under the Public Service Pension Act 2013 are required under the Firefighters' Pension Scheme (Wales) Regulations 2015 (the 2015 Scheme Regulations) to issue actuarial guidance relating to pension sharing on divorce.

This guidance is based on our understanding of the relevant legislation and is designed to be consistent with the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 (the 1999 Act) and associated regulations including the Pension Sharing (Valuation) Regulations 2000.

This guidance relates only to benefits accrued under the 2015 Scheme Regulations. Some firefighters may also have benefits under the 1992 Scheme or the New Firefighters' Pension Scheme (NFPS) which should be dealt with separately according to relevant scheme guidance.

The responsible authority is required to consult the scheme actuary before issuing actuarial guidance under the 2015 Scheme Regulations.

As part of this consultation the responsible authority has asked the Government Actuary's Department (GAD), as scheme actuary, to recommend actuarial guidance in respect of the regulations detailed below. This guidance forms GAD's recommendation for the actuarial guidance required by these regulations.

The following changes have been made when reviewing this guidance:

• Important information around the expected audience for the guidance, use of the guidance, review of factors, compliance and limitations applies across all sets of guidance. Rather than being repeated in each set of guidance, this can now be found on the scheme home page. It is important to read this information alongside the guidance.
• Calculation methodology: No changes have been made to the calculation methodology.
• Examples: There are no examples in this guidance. Worked examples, using the calculation methodology, can be found in prior versions of the guidance (though please note that these use historic factors).
• Factor tables: The "Factor Tables" tab contains the names of the tables that are referenced in the calculation methodology. The tables of factors themselves can be found in the most recently published "Consolidated Factors Workbook" which is available by clicking the "Download current Consolidated Factors Workbook" button on the scheme's home page.
• Assumptions: The key assumptions underlying the factors in each note are contained in the Consolidated Factors Workbook.
• Regulations: The regulations that require the production of the actuarial factors and/or guidance that is the subject of this note are summarised in the "Regulations" tab.