§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many early retirements were granted by police authorities in each of the last four years. [123108]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkePolice officers are entitled to retire with an ordinary police pension on completion of 25 years' pensionable service, subject to certain conditions. However, most police officers choose to retire on completion of 30 years' pensionable service, as this is when maximum pension benefits are accrued.
There are currently no provisions for early retirement from the police service with an actuarially reduced pension. However, officers may retire early on the ground that they are permanently disabled from performing the ordinary duties of a police officer and will receive an ill-health pension.
Tables which contain information on ill-health retirements for civilian and non-civilian employees from each police authority for the last four years for which such information is available have been placed in the Library.