Fire Brigade Pensions Act 1925
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1925 c. 47 |
| Year | 1925 |
Fire Brigade Pensions Act, 1925
(15 & 16 Geo. 5.) CHAPTER 47.
An Act to make provision respecting the retirement, pensions, allowances and gratuities of professional firemen who are members of fire brigades in Great Britain, and their widows, children and dependants.
[31st July 1925]
Be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Retirement and Pensions.
Retirement and Pensions.
1 Compulsory retirement.
(1) Retirement shall be compulsory for professional firemen of all ranks on attaining the age of sixty, except that in special cases the local authority may extend any such person's service for a further period on being satisfied that such extension would be in the interests of efficiency.
(2) Retirement shall also be compulsory for any professional fireman who, having become entitled to retire without a medical certificate and receive an ordinary pension, is required to retire by the local authority on the ground that his retention in the brigade would not be in the interests of efficiency.
2 Pensions and gratuities of professional firemen.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, every professional fireman—
(a ) if he has completed twenty-five years' approved service, and has attained the age of fifty-five, and has given three months' written notice, or such shorter notice as the local authority may accept, to the local authority of his intention to retire, shall be entitled, on the expiration of such notice, without a medical certificate to retire and receive an ordinary pension for life; and
(b ) if he has completed ten years' approved service, and is incapacitated for the performance of his duty by infirmity of mind or body, shall be entitled on a medical certificate to retire and receive an ordinary pension for life; and
(c ) if at any time he is incapacitated for the performance of his duty by infirmity of mind or body occasioned by an injury received in the execution of his duty without his own default, shall be entitled on a medical certificate to retire and receive a special pension for life; and
(d ) if he has not completed ten years' approved service, and is incapacitated for the performance of his duty by infirmity of mind or body not occasioned by such injury as aforesaid, shall be entitled on a medical certificate to retire and receive a gratuity.
(2) Where a professional fireman is compelled to retire under this Act on the ground of age, then—
(a ) if he is not entitled without a medical certificate to retire and receive a pension, he shall be entitled to receive such ordinary pension or gratuity as he would have been entitled to receive had he then retired on a medical certificate;
(b ) any pension or gratuity to which he is entitled shall be payable as from his retirement, and no notice of intention to retire shall be required.
(3) A chief officer appointed after the commencement of this Act shall not, except with the consent of the local authority, be entitled to retire without a medical certificate and receive an ordinary pension, unless at the time of his retirement he has attained the age of sixty.
(4) No gratuity shall be payable to a professional fireman who retires before the expiration of any period of probationary service.
3 Pensions, allowances and gratuities to widows, children and dependants.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, where a professional fireman dies while serving in the fire brigade from the effects of an injury received in, or disease resulting from, the execution of his duty without his own default, or having been granted a pension in respect of any such injury or disease, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, dies from the effects of such injury or disease—
(a ) his widow shall be entitled, where the injury was accidental or where death was due to disease resulting from the execution of his duty, to a widow's ordinary pension, and where the injury was non-accidental, to a widow's special pension;
(b ) his children under sixteen years of age shall be entitled to allowances until they severally reach the age of sixteen years; and
(c ) the local authority may, if they think fit, grant a gratuity to any relative of his who has been wholly or mainly dependent upon him.
(2) Where the widow of a professional fireman is entitled to a pension, or a child of a professional fireman is entitled to an allowance, under this Act, and the local authority are satisfied that there are special reasons for the grant of a gratuity in lieu thereof, the local authority may at their discretion grant a gratuity accordingly, subject to the consent of the man's widow or, if he leaves no widow, the guardian of the child, as the case may be.
4 Pension and compensation not payable for same injury.
4. When a professional fireman is entitled to receive a pension on the ground that he is incapacitated in the performance of his duty by infirmity of mind or body occasioned by an injury, or the widow or any child of a professional fireman is entitled to receive a pension or an allowance in consequence of his dying from the effects of an injury, neither the fireman nor his widow or personal representatives shall be entitled to receive compensation or damages from the local authority in respect of the same injury or the consequences thereof.
5 Scales of pensions, allowances and gratuities.
5. The pensions, allowances and gratuities payable under this Act shall be in accordance with the scales and provisions contained in the Schedule to this Act, and the general rules contained in Part III. of that schedule shall apply to such pensions, allowances and gratuities.
Approved Service.
Approved Service.
6 Service to be reckoned for pension.
(1) The service of a professional fireman for the purposes of this Act shall be subject to such deductions in respect of sickness, misconduct, or neglect of duty as may be made therefrom in pursuance of any regulations affecting the brigade to which he belongs, not exceeding the period during which he is absent from duty on account of sickness, misconduct or neglect of duty, as the case may be; and, subject to the provisions of this Act as to professional firemen who were serving as such at the commencement of this Act, the expression ‘approved service’ shall, for the purposes of this Act, mean such service as may, after such deductions as aforesaid (if any), be certified by the chief officer of the fire brigade with the approval of the local authority to have been diligent and faithful service, but shall not include service before attaining the age of twenty years, except in the case of a fireman who before attaining that age is incapacitated for the performance of his duty by infirmity of mind or body occasioned by an injury received in the execution of his duty without his own default.
(2) Where a deduction is made from the service of a professional fireman in respect of sickness, misconduct, or neglect of duty, notice of the deduction shall be given to him as soon as may be after the occurrence of the cause for which the deduction is made; and he may appeal to the local authority against any act of his chief officer which prevents him from reckoning any period of actual service as approved service, and any period of actual service allowed on such appeal shall be deemed to be approved service.
7 Continuous service in two or more fire brigades.
(1) Where a professional fireman has served in more than one fire brigade and has completed not less than one year's approved service as a professional fireman in any fire brigade from which, after the commencement of this Act, he has, with the written sanction of the local authority, removed to another brigade, such approved service shall be reckoned as approved service in the brigade in which he was serving at the time of his death or retirement.
(2) Where any professional fireman who is entitled under this section to reckon any previous service in another brigade, or his widow or any child or any dependant of his, in due course is granted a pension, gratuity or allowance, the local authority in whose service he then is, or was at the time of his death or retirement, shall be entitled to call upon the other local authority or authorities and they shall contribute a proportionate part of any pension, gratuity or allowance granted to him or his widow or any such child or dependant, reckoned according to his approved service and pay during his service in such brigade, and the said proportionate part shall be settled by agreement between the local authorities, or in default of agreement by an arbitrator appointed by the Secretary of State.
8 Discontinuous service in one or more brigades, &c.
(1) Where a professional fireman, who has retired from a fire brigade without a pension, subsequently, after the commencement of this Act, rejoins the same fire brigade, there shall be reckoned as approved service the period of approved service which he was entitled to reckon at the end of his previous service, if he repays to the local authority the amount of any gratuity which may have been granted to him, or of any rateable deductions from his pay which may have been paid to him by the local authority in respect of his previous service.
(2) Where a professional fireman, who has retired without a pension from a fire brigade in which he was employed as a professional...
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