31. Mr. Baker Whiteasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, in view of the decision to increase old age pensions, he will grant corresponding increases in police pensions, especially in those of the higher-grade officers whose pensions are based upon the 1938 cost of living.
§ Mr. EdeIt is a fundamental feature of the Police Pensions Scheme, as of other public superannuation schemes, that pensions are related to the pay or rank held by an officer at the time of his retirement or death. There is no provision for varying police pensions in accordance with changes in the cost of living, and while I appreciate the difficulties which some police pensioners must be experiencing in present circumstances, I could not justify exceptional treatment for the police in this matter.
The Pensions (Increase) Acts, which incorporate income limits, apply to police pensions as to other types of public pensions, and I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 24th April last to the hon. and gallant Member for Chelsea (Commander Noble).