HL Deb 12 July 2001 vol 626 cc1173-5

3.8 p.m.

Lord Janner of Braunstone

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will take steps to encourage police officers, where appropriate, to delay their retirement.

The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Rooker)

My Lords, we are considering how suitable officers may be encouraged to delay their retirement as part of our plans to boost police numbers to record levels. That will be discussed as part of the police reform process. The introduction of financial incentives for officers to delay retirement would be one possibility. However, the majority of police officers are entitled to retire with an immediate pension after completing 30 years of service and they can then obtain alternative employment. The re-employment of recently retired officers, therefore, is another possible approach.

Lord Janner of Braunstone

My Lords, does my noble friend accept that the fact that most police officers who stay on after 30 years' service earn scarcely more than those who retire is a grotesque anomaly? Surely at a time when there is a grave shortage of police officers in most parts of the country, it is ludicrous to provide incentives to people to retire early, especially when, in many cases, they are the most senior, experienced and useful officers who would wish to stay. Please will Her Majesty's Government have another look at this matter and consider providing incentives to encourage people to stay on after 30 years without penalising those who want to exercise their rights?

Lord Rooker

My Lords, yes, we will look at those issues as part of the review. Such matters are not always straightforward and there are many detailed rules, for example, about retiring from a job with an occupational pension and recommencing the following week. The Inland Revenue is not happy about such an arrangement.

Nevertheless, my noble friend raises a valid point and it will be included in our approach and as part of the review.

Lord Renton

My Lords, in reaching a decision on the matter, will the Government bear in mind that some people are finished at 50 while a good many people are shining at 70? The Government should take full advantage of the experience of those who are carrying on efficiently.

Lord Rooker

My Lords, the noble Lord is a shining example of that because he has 32 years start on me and I am just 60! However, he is right. In this country there are 3 million economically inactive people between the age of 50 and retirement age. It is a wasted resource, and in many ways a combination of the complexities of benefit and tax systems has caused disincentives. Winning the Generation Game, a report published about two years ago by the Performance and Innovation Unit, was designed specifically to address the issue. It contained some 75 recommendations. People should be able to retire early if they want to but there should not be compulsory retirement where people are forced out of employment.

Lord Burnham

My Lords, can the Minister assure the House that if police officers want to continue beyond their 30 years' service they will be allowed to do so keeping their current rank, conditions and pay?

Lord Rooker

My Lords, we have no change to make to that but, provided that age limits are not breached, there is provision to carry on for a further five years after the initial 30 years' service, subject to the agreement of the chief constable and the conditions prevailing in the force. Therefore, retirement is not necessarily automatic; it depends on certain conditions. A person joining the police force at 18½, will have served 30 years at 48½ years and it is then up to him to decide what to do. If he wants to carry on he can do so as a police constable or sergeant until the age of 55, provided he has the agreement of the chief constable. However, there are no proposals for terms and conditions to deteriorate as suggested by the noble Lord.

Lord Mackenzie of Framwellgate

My Lords, does my noble friend agree that the police service is probably the only public service where the customer is always wrong? Does he also agree that morale is the key to this issue? As the police service deals with all the difficulties in society, it would help if from time to time bodies such as this House occasionally supported it—and I know that your Lordships often do.

In any organisation, good leadership is critical to high morale and the chief constables should lead by example. It may well be that there would be fewer differences in performance between forces if there were fewer chief constables.

Lord Rooker

My Lords, I shall kick that one into touch! I cannot respond to my noble friend's question but in the light of our proposals for police reform I am sure that we shall have plenty of opportunities to discuss these issues in the coming Session.

Lord McNally

My Lords, further to the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Renton, does the Minister recall that the late Jack Warner was well over the age of 80 when he hung up his truncheon as Dixon of Dock Green? As regards police retirement, there is a wide variety of ages and a wide variety of reasons is given for early retirement, which is extremely expensive. Is the Home Office carrying out a study into the patterns of retirement from force to force and the reasons why policemen are leaving early?

Lord Rooker

My Lords, I take on board what the noble Lord said. During the past three years, the wastage measured in the police service has been only 4.7 per cent, 4.7 per cent and 4.8 per cent. That compares with the survey conducted last year by the Institute of Personnel & Development of all employees of 18 per cent. Therefore, in terms of wastage the police service has a good record. On the other hand, as regards retirement in forces in England and Wales in 1999–2000, some 3,929 officers from all ranks retired. Of those, 69 per cent retired ordinarily and 31 per cent retired for medical reasons. Five years previously 46 per cent retired for medical reasons. Therefore in the past five years there has been a decline in the number of officers retiring for medical reasons and I believe that the problem is being tackled.

Lord Cope of Berkeley

My Lords, does the Minister agree with the first part of his noble friend's question: that morale is most important in the decision to take early retirement, sick leave and so forth? As one of the causes of low morale is the weight of bureaucracy on the police force will the Government tackle that?

Lord Rooker

My Lords, one of the reasons for having more civilian and technological support in the police force in recent years is to lift that weight of bureaucracy. As a Member of another place, I did a night shift with the local station and saw what happened when an arrest was made. The time spent on paperwork is horrendous and if you are not careful you are locked into the station for the rest of the night. But that is why we have a programme of civilianisation and it must be supported. It may be that former police officers can have a role in the civilianisation of the force because they have an expertise which can be of considerable assistance to their colleagues. However, low morale caused by bureaucracy is a bane of every walk of life and we must tackle it, attack it and reduce it.