Submitted by SWFBU on
TO: ALL MEMBERS
Dear Brother/Sister
EARLY DAY MOTION 454: WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT IS IMPORTANT
FBU members will be aware of the union’s campaign to support Early Day Motion 454 in the House of Commons in order to oppose the introduction of the new pension regulations for the proposed 2015 pension scheme for England. This circular explains the background to this and what the union is seeking through this campaign.
Pensions and secondary legislation
Firefighter pensions are set up under secondary legislation. This is used when the government has such delegated powers through other (primary) legislation. In this case the Public Service Pensions Act 2013 covers the provision of public service pensions in England, Scotland and Wales. Under this Act, individual pension schemes can be created using secondary legislation by means of Statutory Instruments. This includes pensions for firefighters and the proposed 2015 pension scheme is to be created as secondary legislation using the authority granted under the Act.
The pension regulations have now been laid before Parliament under what is called the negative procedure. These procedures are somewhat archaic and little understood. The FBU is working closely with our Parliamentary advisors who are in turn liaising with clerks at the House of Commons to ensure that we take every opportunity to progress our case and to challenge the government in every way we can. The relevant procedures are covered in the Negative Procedure section of the House of Commons Brief Guide to Delegated Legislation:
FBU members should be aware that the procedures are unfamiliar even, to many MPs.
‘Praying’ against the pension regulations
The procedure which has to be followed under the Negative Procedure is that MPs who oppose the draft legislation (i.e. the pension regulations) must ‘pray’ against them. This is done by means of an Early Day Motion (EDM), in this case EDM 454.
There has been some confusion around this, even among MPs. Some MPs generally refuse to sign EDMs, arguing that they are costly and inefficient, since they do not necessarily lead to any practical steps being taken. EDMs are generally used to draw attention to a particular cause or campaign.
However, it is important to note that in this case there is a significant difference. The EDM is the correct parliamentary procedure to be followed when praying against the Statutory Instrument (i.e. the pension regulations). Therefore, even those MPs who would not generally support an EDM should be asked to consider this case differently, since we are following the correct parliamentary procedure for this situation.
Frontbench support
In the case of EDM 454, after much lobbying and campaigning, we have successfully convinced Ed Miliband to give support and he is now the primary sponsor of the EDM. This means that it is supported by Labour’s frontbench and there is no reason why any Labour MP should not therefore give it support. However, we are seeking much wider support and this can be viewed through the following link:
You will note that there is support from other parties and we are particularly pleased to see a number of Liberal Democrat MPs have now signed the EDM. All FBU members are urged to continue this lobbying campaign. Local officials will also be able to assist in answering MPs who simply provide standard DCLG responses.
What happens next?
There are possibilities for a prayer to result in a Statutory Instrument being defeated but clearly this is difficult when challenging legislation initiated by the government. You will therefore appreciate the importance of winning support among MPs from the government parties as well as from the leader of the opposition. A key aim for our campaign at this stage is to be able to demonstrate opposition to the government proposals from a broad range of opinion within the House of Commons. Every FBU member can assist in this by taking part in lobbying activity.
The prayer may also result in the issue being referred to the Delegated Legislation Committee or to be debated in the House. Clearly, having won the support of the leader of the opposition, it has been made more difficult for the government to attempt to simply ignore the opposition. EDM 454 is already the best supported EDM in parliament of this session. Our Parliamentary advisors are working to ensure we are kept informed of any developments in relation to the EDM and what steps the government might take next.
This spread of support is testament to two things. Firstly, the evidence-based case which the union has presented throughout has never been answered by this DCLG Minister or any of her predecessors. The strength of our arguments has allowed us to build support even among MPs who are not normally allies of the FBU. Secondly, many FBU members have engaged in this part of the campaign and that has clearly assisted in building support across a range of views. Assistance with lobbying can be found on the FBU website:
All members are urged to continue this important element of the campaign, alongside the other activities which will be planned over coming days.
Best wishes.
Yours fraternally
MATT WRACK
GENERAL SECRETARY
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