§ Colin BurgonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from the Prison Officers' Association regarding the retirement age of prison staff. [173395]
§ Paul Goggins[holding answer 14 May 2004]: Retirement ages are currently under general review following the publication of the Green Paper "Simplicity, security and choice: Working and saving for retirement", published in December 2002. The Green Paper considers retirement ages for public servants, including specific groups. It refers to the different considerations applying to:
… the armed forces. fire service and police where the need for a recognised physical capacity justifies the award of normal pension at a lower age …".The Prison Officers' Association (POA) has made representations to be included as an additional special case to the departments with lead responsibility for pensions reforms—the Treasury, Inland Revenue and the Department for Work and Pensions. The POA has also made their views known to the Prison Service on a number of occasions and officials have passed the POA views to the lead Departments.