POLICE PENSIONS (REGULATIONS) (Hansard, 17 July 1961)

§ The Minister of State, Home Office (Mr. David Renton)
I beg to move, That the Police Pensions (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations, 1961, a draft of which was laid before this House on 4th July, be approved. I suggest, Sir Gordon, that we discuss with these Regulations the Scottish Regulations, which are in identical terms.

§ Mr. Deputy-Speaker (Sir Gordon Touche)
Yes, if that is convenient to the House.

§ Mr. Renton
These draft Regulations give effect to a part of the agreement on pay, conditions and service which was reached in November by the Police Council of Great Britain, following the recommendations of the Royal Commission on the Police, among which was a recommendation for a substantial increase in police pay. It was accepted by all concerned that, besides the pay recommendation being implemented, effect should be given to the recommendation of the Commission that the payment of an ordinary pension calculated on less than thirty years' pensionable service should not begin unless and until the pensioner reached the age of 50.
The Royal Commission said in its interim Report that thirty years should be regarded as the generally accepted minimum length of service of a constable, subject to the exceptions that there might be in the interests of the force causing some men to retire with less than thirty years' service. For example, a man recruited in his late twenties might find after twenty-five years' service that he was no longer fit for the full range of police duties. However, in general the Commission felt that there was little justification today when standards of health are rising and the expectation of life is increasing for preserving the entitlement granted to constables seventy years ago to retire on half pay after twenty-five years' service and while still in their forties. Such a provision has become an anomaly within the public service.
The Royal Commission deplored the loss of experienced men who leave the force on pension between the ages of 45 and 50 at a time when many of them 1012 still have a valuable contribution to make, not least in helping and encouraging the new recruits. That is why it recommended that ordinary pensions awarded on less than thirty years' pensionable service should not be paid until the pensioner had reached the age of 50, and the effect of the draft Regulations will be that a pension will always be payable where one would have been payable under the old arrangements, the only change being that where an officer Who retires with less than thirty years' service is under 50, he will not start to receive payment of pension until he reaches the age of 50. His pension will be calculated from the first day of his retirement as at present, but if it is an ordinary pension awarded with less than thirty years' service, and if he is under 50, the payment will be deferred until he reaches that age.
I should make it clear that this freezing of benefits applies only to those officers who retired with ordinary pensions, as they are called. Ill-health pensions and pension awards which take the form of gratuities or of amounts equal to refunds of pension contributions will continue to be made as from the date of retirement, just as they are today; and if a pensioner dies during the deferred period any widow's or children's awards which may be payable will come into effect from the date of his death.
These new provisions will not apply to those serving on or up to 7th August. They will apply to all those who subsequently enter the force. We are therefore in the strange position that these Regulations will not come fully into force until twenty-five years hence.

§ Mr. Eric Fletcher (Islington, East)
I am sure that the House is grateful to the Minister for having explained the precise purpose and effect of these Regulations. Without such an explanation they would not have been entirely easy to follow from the draft Statutory Instrument. The matter has been complicated because a number of previous Regulations have been made and approved by the House this Session dealing with police pensions.
The Minister made it plain in his speech, as I hoped he would, that nothing in these regulations affects rights already accrued or applies to persons 1013 at present in the police force. Their rights and their position are preserved. He also explained that the Regulations will affect only new entrants and that they give effect to the Royal Commission's recommendations about new entrants and to the principle which we all approve that thirty years' service should be regarded as the normal period in future for new entrants far entitlement to pension.
The House will also be interested to know that these Regulations have been approved both by the Police Council and by the Police Federation. The only other comment which I wish to make is that since the Police Pensions Act, 1961, has been passed by the House, we think that it would be an advantage to those who are interested in this matter and to the police if an opportunity were taken to consolidate the various Police Pensions Regulations which have been made in recent years, including these Regulations.

§ Mr. Renton
By the leave of the House, perhaps I may reply to the hon. Member for Islington, East (Mr. Fletcher). As he said, there is now power to consolidate as a result of the Act of this Session which passed through the House virtually without discussion. We were most grateful for the co-operation which we received from hon. Gentlemen opposite in getting it passed through.
The enormous task of consolidating the three sets of Regulations started, in fact, some time before the Act was passed, but it is a most formidable task. Not only is it a formidable drafting task, but, of course, we must have a great deal of consultation with the representatives of both sides of the police service before we can lay anything before Parliament. This task is likely to take some months. However, it is a task 'which we are pursuing keenly and, eventually, it will be achieved and Parliament will see the results of it.