The Firefighters’ Pension Scheme has reported a 9 per cent increase in its scheme deficit, while in related news, nearly 9,000 firefighters are set to receive a pay out of £3,750 as compensation for anxiety and distress following a "government pensions debacle".

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) confirmed that claimants with “additional reasons for being aggrieved” will receive £7,250 in total, after the government agreed to settle the case for firefighters, which have been represented by FBU throughout the process.

The issues stem from 2015, when the government introduced new pensions rules requiring firefighters to work to the age of 60 or take a reduced pension, although protections were put in place for older workers to allow them to stay in the old scheme, left unaffected by the changes.

In December 2018, the Court of Appeal ruled that the 2015 reforms to the judicial and firefighter pension schemes were unlawful as they were discriminatory on the ground of age, and that the pre-2015 pension scheme applies to time served between 2015 and 31 March 2022.

Pensions are in the process of being adjusted accordingly as a result of this ruling, with further legal disputes also ongoing, although this compensation is separate from the pensions themselves and is compensation for the distress caused by the proposed changes.

FBU general secretary, Matt Wrack, commented: “We are pleased to have been able to win this for our members. Today’s agreement on starting the process for making those payments to our members underlines the amount of distress our members have been under.

“Some had significant uncertainty with regards to their financial futures. Our members work long careers saving the lives of others and risking their own in what is often a very stressful job.

“They do not deserve to be treated like this and be caused unnecessary distress. This is a significant step on the road to putting the situation with regards to firefighters’ pensions right but there is still further to go. This is a mess of the government’s making.”

Commenting on the news, a Home Office spokesperson said: “Firefighters work tirelessly to protect our communities and this government has consistently given them the resources they need to keep people safe.

"Around £2.5bn in funding has been allocated for fire services in 2022/23 and 2,672 firefighters have been recruited over the past year."

According to the latest fire and rescue workforce and pensions statistics, the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme total deficit increased by 9 per cent over 2021/22 to £556m, due to an increase in the scheme's total expenditure.

The scheme's total expenditure was around £954m in 2021/22, marking a six per cent increase compared with the previous year.

The report showed that 81 per cent of this was ‘recurring outgoing payments’, 18 per cent was ‘commutation payments’, while ‘transfers’ and ‘miscellaneous expenditure’ together totalled one per cent.

This increase in expenditure more than offset the one per cent year-on-year increase in the scheme's total income, which was £399m in 2021/22.

According to the report, 67 per cent of this income was from ‘employer contributions’, 30 per cent was ‘employee contributions’ and the remaining three per cent comprised a combination of transfers, miscellaneous income and ill-health charges.

The statistics also showed that, as of 31 March 2022, the total number of pensioners scheme members was 47,240 and of these, 73 per cent (34,490) were members who have retired and were in receipt of benefits from the 1992 scheme, down from 90 per cent on 31 March 2021.

In the latest year, 20 per cent of members were in the 2015 scheme, this was an increase from the four per cent of members who were part of the 2015 scheme in the previous year.

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