§ The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. David Blunkett)I have today published a consultation paper which sets out proposals for a new police pension scheme for future entrants. We intend that the new scheme should be in place by no later than April 2006.
The aim is to produce a modernised, more flexible scheme for a twenty first century police service. The proposed new scheme would include benefits such as a full pension of half final salary plus a lump sum of four times' pension after 35 years, life-long survivor benefits extended to unmarried and same sex partners as well as spouses, and a lower contribution rate of between 9 to 9.5 per cent. of pensionable pay. In line with Government policy on pension ages in future the new scheme would have a minimum pension age of 55 and a deferred pension age of 65 for those leaving the service before the age of 55.
Currently serving officers who are in the existing scheme will remain there unless they opt to transfer to the new scheme. As members of the current scheme they will still be able to retire after 25 or more years' service with a pension age unaffected by the proposed changes. However, younger serving officers who leave the service early might be affected by Government proposals to apply the planned rise in the normal public service pension age from 60 to 65 to some existing staff. Any future move to raise the deferred pension age of currently serving officers to 65 would not be made before there had been a full debate about how this might be implemented across the public sector, and would apply only to pensionable service falling after the date of change.
Government plans to raise the minimum pension age to 55 in April 2005 will not affect currently serving officers who continue in service until retirement under the present police pensions scheme. However, the consultation document discusses the arrangements that should be made for officers who enter the service between April 2005 and the start date of the new scheme, if such a time lag occurs.
The consultation document also sets out Government plans for reforming the system of financing police pensions with a view to making expenditure on paying pensions to retired officers more predictable and more clearly separated from operational costs.
We seek a well-informed and constructive debate on the proposed elements of a new scheme for future entrants to the police service before we come to our final decision on how to take police pensions forward into the twenty-first century.
90WSCopies of the consultation document are available in the House library and on the Home Office web-site www.homeoffice.gov.uk/ Comments have been requested by 11 March 2004.