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EMP circular 3/24 – RDS retainer fee FAQs

FIRE & RESCUE SERVICES
National Employers

Local Government Association, 
18 Smith Square, Westminster,  
London, SW1P 3HZ
Telephone 020 7187 7335 
e-mail: [email protected]
Employers’ Secretary, Naomi Cooke

Direct dial: 020 7187 7335

Website: www.local.gov.uk/

To: Chief fire officers
Chief executives/Clerks to fire authorities
Chairs of fire authorities 
Directors of human resources 

1 October 2024

Circular EMP/3/24

RDS retainer fee FAQs

1. You will be aware as part of the 2024 pay agreement, the National Joint Council for Local Authority Fire & Rescue Services amended the Grey Book Retained Duty System (RDS) retainer fee structure as follows: 

RDS retainer fee banding (from 1 January 2025)

The annual retainer for an employee providing full cover (which is defined as cover of at least 120 hours per week) is 15 per cent of the appropriate annual basic pay.

Where an employee provides cover for less than 120 hours per week the following bands may be applied:

Up to and including 30 hours per week,                                            

5%

from 31 hours per week and up to and including 60 hours per week,

7.5%

from 61 hours per week and up to and including 90 hours per week,

10%

from 91 hours per week and up to and including 119 hours,            

12.5%

Full cover (120 hours a week)

15%

2. The National Employers have produced some Frequently Asked Questions regarding the changes that come into effect on 1 January 2025.

Advisory forum vacancies

3. The National Employers of the NJC are assisted by a body of expert advisers taken from the sector, known as the Advisory Forum.

4. We are currently seeking expressions of interest for several roles within the Advisory Forum, please see appendix A for more details on the current vacancies and how to apply.

5. We still require additional expressions in order to fill all three CFO vacancies; therefore, we are extending the deadline for this position to Thursday 10 October, 16.00.

LGA workforce updates

6. The LGA Workforce Team is currently recruiting, we are looking for experts across the wider local government family to join our expanding team. Please refer to the LGA careers page for more information and advise any colleagues who might be interested. We encourage secondment arrangements from any local authority body into the LGA.

7. The LGA Workforce Team provides useful monthly bulletins you might want to consider signing up to, including:

  • Workforce Bulletin provides a monthly update of the latest workforce news across local government delivered to your inbox.

  • Advisory Bulletin provides a monthly update on legislative and case law developments and guidance on how they impact on local authorities.

Yours faithfully,

Sarah Ward
Employers’ side secretary