About the Scottish Firefighters’ Pension Board

Pension boards for the schemes administered by SPPA were established in 2015. We have four Pension Boards covering our Police, Firefighters, NHS and Teachers Schemes.

The boards have equal number of employer representatives and member representatives and are each led by an Independent Chair and Independent Vice-Chair.

Pension Boards are responsible for assisting the Scheme Manager with the governance and administration of the Scheme. This includes ensuring compliance with the Scheme regulations, and any other relevant legislation and requirements as set out by The Pensions Regulator (TPR) in relation to the Scheme.

Every individual who is a member of the Pension Board must be conversant with the rules of the Schemes; in other words the Regulations and other legislation governing the Schemes; and have knowledge and understanding of the law relating to pensions. The Pension Boards meet four times a year.

Scottish Firefighters’ Pension Board members

William Littleboy, Independent Chair

William became the Independent Chair of the Firefighters Pension Board in 2018 following an extensive career in financial services in the UK and Europe. He spent over 20 years in corporate banking and more than 15 years in investment management specialising in technology, operations and risk.

William was Chief Operating Officer and then Chief Risk Officer at Standard Life Investments and, as an adopted Scot, has enjoyed living in Edinburgh since 2002.

Andy Marchant, Vice Chair

Andy Marchant has worked in financial services for over 30 years, with the last 20 of those in the world of pensions and investments. Andy’s executive roles have included Managing Director of Corporate Pensions and Marketing Director, Life and Pensions at Aegon UK. He has also worked at Royal Bank Of Scotland, Direct Line and HSBC among others. He now holds 4 non-executive roles. As well as Vice-Chair for the Scottish Firefighters Pension Scheme, Andy is a non-executive director for Lothian Pension Fund, Chair of the Scottish Book Trust and Trustee Director of City & Guilds.

Gus Sproul, member representative

Gus joined the Fire and Rescue Service in 2000, and became an operational Crew Manager in 2010.  In 2016 he took on a role within the Fire Brigades Union and since that time has held a variety of remits within the union.  He is currently the Scottish Regional Chair, having previously held the role of East of Scotland Area Chair for almost three years.  His remit as Regional Chair involves negotiating on behalf of and representing members on a broad range of industrial issues, many of which directly impact upon the occupational uniform pension schemes which fall under the remit of the Scottish Firefighters Pension Board.

Scott McCabe, member representative

Scott joined the then Fife Fire and Rescue Service in 1993, serving as an operational firefighter and Brigade level official for the Fire Brigades Union for 23 years. Within Fife F&RS he was responsible for representing over 600 FBU members and for overseeing all aspects of their terms and conditions, including pensions. Towards the end of his career in the Fire Service he also operated at a national level for the FBU in Scotland, playing a role in the creation of the current structures that the FBU still use in Scotland today.

He subsequently left the Service to take on his current role as the Curriculum Head of the Trade Union Congress education centre at City of Glasgow College, where he is now responsible for the delivery of TUC and affiliated trade union courses across Scotland.  In this role his responsibilities include course design and creation, liaising with stakeholders and facilitating the needs of the trade union movement.  

Simon Leroux, member representative

Simon started his career in the fire service in 2009 when he joined the Retained duty system in Hereford and Worcester FRS. In 2012 he started his wholetime position within Grampian Fire and Rescue Service before the formation of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. He is currently an operational Crew Commander at Altens Fire Station in Aberdeen and has been since August 2019.

He started his FBU officials path in 2016 when elected as Branch Secretary of Central fire station where he was serving at the time. He is currently the North Area Secretary, taking up the role in March 2022, having previously been the Area Chair and Organiser. The North Area covers 167 stations, 1300 members over an area of approximately 15,000 sq miles of mainland and the islands of Scotland.

Stephen Wright, employer representative

Stephen works in the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s Human Resources and Organisational Development Directorate and is responsible for workforce planning, resourcing and succession planning arrangements. In addition to this, Stephen has spent over 20 years in the fire service working for both Strathclyde Fire & Rescue and the SFRS.

Nicola Hector, employer representative

Nicola has worked in public sector finance for almost 30 years, working in local government initially before moving to work in the Fire and Rescue Service.  She transferred from Grampian Fire and Rescue Service to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service when it was formed in April 2013. She is a Finance Business Partner, based in Aberdeen and is heavily involved in producing the Annual Accounts for the Service, including the Pension disclosures.

On a day to day basis she is responsible for the pension accounting, monitoring and forecasting pension expenditure in relation to the SG pension grant and liaising with SPPA and LGPS Funds. Nicola has also been a member of the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme Advisory Board since 2018 and has a good knowledge and understanding of recent pension changes.

Outside of work Nicola is a keen community volunteer and fundraiser, involved with the organising of her Village’s annual Gala day and Christmas Lights display. In her spare time she is a keen gardener, enjoys attending live music and sporting events and has recently started to learn upholstery.

Liz Barnes, employer representative

Liz currently holds the position of Interim Deputy Chief Officer, Corporate Services and Director of People, having been with SFRS for 7 years.  She has over 35 years’ experience in Human Resources and Employee Relations gained in a number of private sector organisations  including Amazon, T-Mobile, EE and Hovis and holds a Masters Degree in Employment Law.  Liz has previously been a pension board member in T-Mobile and is committed to ensuring the retirement needs of our Firefighters are met.

Related documents

Annual Reports

Please contact us if you wish access to previous reports.

Minutes and Agendas

2023

2022

2021

2020

Please contact us if you wish to access previous years minutes.

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