Firefighter Remediable Service Statement (RSS) Explained

What an RSS is and why it exists

When FPS 2015 opened, members who were older were protected and stayed in their old scheme, while younger members moved to the new CARE scheme. Courts found in the McCloud and Sargeant cases that this was age discrimination. The government’s remedy has two parts: from 1 April 2022 everybody builds pension in FPS 2015, and for the seven-year period 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022 (the remedy period) eligible members are offered a choice of benefits.

A remediable service statement (RSS) is the document that lays out that choice in numbers. The official member website says each year you receive an annual benefit statement; if you are eligible for remedy this also includes your options at retirement, as an RSS, or as a combined annual benefit statement and remediable service statement (ABS-RSS). It will also help you consider how much pension you could receive, the value of any lump sum, whether you might need to make or receive a payment relating to the contribution rate in the scheme you select, tax and interest implications, and how transfers in are treated.

The regulations that implement the retrospective remedy for England, the Firefighters’ Pensions (Remediable Service) Regulations 2023, came into force on 1 October 2023, according to local pension board reports. This guide follows the general process; check your own nation’s regulations and timetable.

Who is eligible

The official website sets out three tests: you must have been in pensionable service on or before 31 March 2012, have had pensionable service between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022, and not have a gap in service of five years or more. Pensionable service need not have been in the firefighters’ scheme: it could be in another public service pension scheme. The LGA’s eligibility guide adds that firefighters who were eligible to be active members on 31 March 2012 count even if they were not actually paying in, and that anyone meeting the legal tests is in scope whether or not they were originally given transitional protection.

Those out of scope include anyone who left or retired before 1 April 2012, and anyone who joined a public service scheme for the first time on or after 1 April 2012. The LGA guide explains that some members with multiple firefighter employments, such as wholetime and retained roles, were treated inconsistently, and that all relevant positions must be treated as remediable where the conditions are met. If you think you have been wrongly excluded, ask your administrator in writing to check.

Members who opted out might still be affected through a contingent decision, discussed later. You do not need to make a legal claim to benefit from the remedy.

Deferred choice underpin: no decision until retirement

For serving and deferred members, the approach is the deferred choice underpin. The LGA’s page explains that benefits accrued under FPS 2015 for eligible members are converted to legacy benefits for the whole remedy period, and the reformed benefits are kept and treated as an underpinned record. At retirement you are offered a choice of legacy or reformed benefits for that period. The member does not need to make a choice until they reach retirement.

The official website confirms that you do not need to make a choice of benefits when you receive your statement, only when you retire, and that the date you make your choice will impact any interest payable. It also warns that if you make no choice when you retire, your scheme manager will decide for you based on the figures in your remediable service statement. That makes reading the RSS carefully — and, if unsure, asking for an explanation — a good idea well before retirement.

Because everything before 1 April 2015 and after 31 March 2022 is unaffected, the choice only concerns seven years of service. For a member with 30 years’ service the effect may be modest or large, depending on pay history and retirement age.

What an RSS or ABS-RSS contains

The statement compares the two versions of your remedy-period benefits. Typically you will see an estimate of pension and lump sum under each option, any difference in contributions you would owe or be refunded, tax and interest implications, and information about transfers in and added pension if they are relevant. Annex-style sections explain the assumptions, such as the retirement age used.

The official ‘your statement explained’ material also lists adjustments that can reduce the figures: early retirement reductions, scheme pays debits if an annual allowance charge was paid from the scheme, pension sharing or earmarking orders after divorce, and two pension (split pension) awards. Estimates do not include future revaluation under Treasury orders, so they will understate the pension of someone still serving.

At retirement you will also be given an RSS with final figures. The website says several factors can affect when it arrives: how long in advance you tell your fire and rescue authority, whether the data is available, and whether manual calculation is needed. It recommends telling your administrator of plans at least six months ahead. See the annual benefit statement guide for how to read the main figures.

Immediate choice, immediate detriment and contingent decisions

Members who had already retired by 30 September 2023 and have service in the remedy period are described in local pension board papers as ‘immediate choice’ members. They receive an immediate choice remediable service statement (IC-RSS) and must choose, rather than waiting for a future retirement, with a statutory delivery deadline of 31 March 2025. Before the regulations existed, an ‘immediate detriment’ arrangement, agreed between the LGA and the FBU, let some members who were about to retire be offered a choice earlier. The 2023 regulations largely superseded it, and the official pages now speak of immediate choice for those already retired.

A contingent decision is a decision you made that you would have made differently had it not been for the discrimination. The official website says you may be able to reverse an opt-out taken between 12 March 2012 and 28 February 2022 because of the 2015 reforms, or to buy additional pension you did not buy for that reason. If a claim is accepted you pay the contributions that would have been due, with interest, and the authority explains payment options. The website recommends submitting a claim at least six months before retirement.

It also notes an issue affecting some former 1992 members who opted out during the remedy period, where the regulations do not currently allow their opted-out service to be reinstated in the 1992 scheme; the government has said it plans to change them. Ask your administrator about the current position.

Tax, contributions and interest

Moving your remedy-period service back to the legacy scheme can change the pension you built each year for annual allowance purposes. The official tax pages say your administrator will re-test benefits against the annual allowance for the remedy period and for the 2022/23 tax year, and may issue a revised or new pension saving statement. You may then use the HMRC member tax adjustment calculator to work out any refunds or extra charges, with all submissions due by 6 July 2027, though members are encouraged to act earlier. Scheme pays deadlines were extended for remedy members to 6 July 2025 for active and deferred members, and 6 July 2027 for pensioners.

Contributions can also change. Legacy and reformed schemes had different contribution rates during the remedy period, so your RSS may show an amount to pay or to receive. Interest applies in some cases. The details are in the official contribution adjustments pages; your administrator’s RSS shows your own numbers. For general tax rules, see the annual allowance and tax guide.

If you are considering the lump sum, note that legacy and reformed schemes differ on how the lump sum is calculated; the RSS shows both.

A simplified example: legacy versus reformed for seven years

To see how the choice can go either way, consider a member with 7 years of remedy-period service, on average £34,000 pensionable pay, who is expected to retire ten years after the end of the period on final pay of £40,358. These figures are invented for illustration, and use a 2006-style 1/60 legacy accrual and the English FPS 2015 rate of 1/59.7.

The legacy slice is 7/60 × £40,358 = £4,708.43 a year, because it is based on final pay. The reformed slice is 7 × (£34,000 ÷ 59.7) = £3,986.60 before revaluation; with an assumed 3% revaluation both during the seven years and for a further ten years until retirement it becomes about £5,865. In this example the reformed benefit is higher because of the earnings-linked revaluation, but with lower revaluation, or a member with a large late promotion, the legacy option could win.

That is why the choice is deferred: the answer depends on what happens to your pay and revaluation. The remediable service statement calculates both using your actual records. Use the pension report for a personalised what-if, and see FPS 2006 explained, FPS 1992 explained and how to calculate your firefighter pension for the formulas.

Delivery in 2026: what is happening and how to respond

Delivery has been slower than planned in several places. A North Yorkshire fire pension board report of 28 April 2026 says its administrator, which serves 24 fire authorities, faced a significant backlog, that an oversight board had been set up with the LGA, and that ill-health retirements were being prioritised. It reported ABS-RSS issued to 183 of 215 active members for 2024-25, with deferred and remaining immediate choice statements paused by production issues. LGA bulletins in July and August 2026 reminded scheme managers of the Pensions Regulator’s expectations and of the 31 August annual benefit statement deadline.

In Scotland, SPPA said work continued on statements for deferred members and gave October 2026 as a target for deferred benefit RSS issue, while reporting to the Scottish Parliament indicated a delivery deadline extended to the end of 2026. In Northern Ireland, HSC Pension Service said it did not meet the 31 March 2025 statutory deadline and reported a breach. In Wales I could not verify a published timetable.

None of this removes your entitlement. It means you should ask where your statement is, keep a record of the request, and avoid making irreversible retirement plans without your figures.

1. Find out from your administrator whether you are eligible and whether your ABS-RSS has been issued.
2. If you are within a year or two of retiring, ask for an early retirement quotation and RSS and note the date you asked.
3. Read the RSS for the pension, lump sum, contribution adjustment, interest and tax sections.
4. Ask for written explanations of anything unclear, and use the formal dispute process if you disagree with a decision.
5. Consider independent financial advice before making a choice worth a large sum.