Norman v Cheshire Fire & Rescue Service

Under rule G1 of the Firemen’s Pension Scheme, pensionable pay is not confined to basic pay or sums determined solely by a firefighter’s role. It includes regular amounts determined in relation to duties performed in that role under the contract of employment. Retained-duty and public-holiday payments may qualify where the duties are contractual and the payments form part of regular remuneration.

Christopher Norman, a retired firefighter, claimed that retaining, disturbance and public-holiday payments consolidated under a 2007 collective agreement formed part of his pensionable pay. Cheshire Fire & Rescue Service had excluded them when calculating his retirement benefits.

The issue was whether the consolidated elements were amounts determined in relation to the performance of the duties of his role under rule G1 of the Firemen’s Pension Scheme.

1. Claim succeeded. The consolidated elements were pensionable pay under rule G1.
2. The rule does not confine pensionable pay to basic salary or sums determined solely by role. A payment may relate both to a duty system and to the performance of duties within the employee’s role.
3. The retaining and disturbance fee uplifts were pensionable because the retained duties became contractual obligations under the 2007 Collective Agreement and remained duties of a firefighter’s role.
4. Public-holiday pay was pensionable because it changed from episodic payment for actual holiday work to a regular uplift recognising availability for such work.
5. Kent & Medway Towns Fire Authority v Pensions Ombudsman and anor [2001] OPLR 357 provided consistent guidance, but did not establish an exhaustive definition of pensionable pay.
6. Before 2007, retained duties were probably voluntary rather than contractual, so payments for them would not ordinarily have been pensionable regular contractual pay. The court directed counsel to agree an order giving effect to the judgment.