Warning over police pensions becoming “unaffordable”

THE Government needs to justify why the police officer pension contribution rate – scheduled to jump to 14.25 per cent in April – needs to be so high, the chairman of Essex Police Federation has said.

The Home Office’s plan to once again raise police officer contributions “raises serious questions of fairness and affordability”, the Police Federation of England and Wales has warned.

Mark Smith, chairman of Essex Police Federation, said: “It is wrong. It has never been looked at as to whether these increases are needed for the pension to survive. Wages are not rising and officers are having to find more and more money towards their pensions – and they are having to work extra years for it.

“The Government needs to justify why the contribution rate needs to be so high.”

Ian Rennie, general secretary of the Police Federation of England and Wales, labelled the proposed changes as “an unjustifiable, arbitrary levy on our members”.

In a letter to Policing Minister Damian Green, Mr Rennie said combining these changes with higher officer pension contributions “may well mean that members cannot additionally afford the revised contribution rates.”

He added: “If this is the case, members’ only option will be to opt out of their pension scheme. This could have serious implications for the financial viability of the police pension schemes.”

In April last year the majority of English and Welsh officers on the 30-year Police Pension Scheme endured a 1.25 per cent rise to their monthly contributions, up to 13.5 per cent. Under the new proposals, this will increase to 14.25 per cent on April 1.

Officers on the 35-year New Police Pension Scheme (NPPS) faced a one per cent increase to a contribution rate of 11.5 per cent in 2013. That is now scheduled to jump to 12.05 per cent in 2014.

Exact increases depend on which of the two schemes officers are in and on their basic annual salary.

Although discussions have taken place about pension changes through the Police Negotiating Board officers have no negotiating rights on their pensions.

A new police pension scheme – which will see officers having to work longer before claiming their pensions for a smaller return – is scheduled to be introduced to the service in 2015.

Monty Montgomery, secretary of Essex Police Federation, said: “We have seen people who are coming out of the pensions because they can’t afford it and they don’t see that they will get any benefit from it in the long term.

“My advice would be to sit and wait until we find out exactly the regulations and the determinations of the new pensions [coming in 2015] because they have not come out yet.”

He added: “Officers who are struggling now… Because of the pension increases it is going to place more and more of a burden on them. We run the risk of officers starting to look for second jobs – which means they are going to be coming to work more tired.

“Ultimately I think the service that we provide may decrease – and the people of Essex aren’t going to get the service they deserve because of this knock on effect. We have had no pay increases and are now having pension increases – it is going to have an effect on morale and officers’ ability and desire to do a good job.”