§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on his Department's advice to local authorities on whether they will permit widows and widowers of firefighters to retain their pensions on remarriage. [55614]
§ Dr. WhiteheadUnder the current rules of the firefighters' pension scheme, the surviving spouse of a firefighter who remarries will lose the rights to a widow's/widower's pension. There are no proposals at present to amend the scheme in this respect and therefore we could not advise local authorities to permit surviving spouses to retain their pensions on remarriage. We continue to discuss amendments to the current scheme with the Central Fire Brigades Advisory Council which includes representatives of the Scottish Executive, the Northern Ireland Administration, fire service employers and unions and staff associations.