Pensions
New Commutation Factors
At the Police Federation conference on Wednesday 21st May, 2008 the Home Secretary made an announcement about new commutation factors to be used for the Police Pension Scheme 1987 from 1st October 2007. Whilst NARPO is pleased to see that these new factors will take into consideration that retiring police officers, like the rest of society, are living longer into retirement, we are concerned at the very large difference that these new figures will make to those retiring post that date when compared to officers who retired even just a day earlier.
We are currently enquiring as to how this date came to be chosen as the date for commencement of these new factors, in particular, what if any consultations have taken place and with whom. We will also be looking at the legal situation in respect of this decision.
We will report any developments to members through appropriate means.
We have included below three links to the relevant Home Office web pages which contain the relevant Home Office Circular, Government Actuary’s Guidance and a Question and Answer page on these new factors.
Useful links Link to Home Office Circular 11/2008:
Link to GAD guidance:
Link to Q&A:
http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/human-resources/new-pension-docs/commutation-factors-qa
Advice on Police Pensions
NARPO Headquarters at Wakefield is always available to answer any Police Pension enquiry. Either the Chief Executive or the Deputy Chief Executive can provide personal advice on a whole range of pension issues during normal office hours. Written and Email enquiries can also be catered for; all we ask is that you include your NARPO membership number with your request.
You will also need to identify the Police Pension scheme applicable to you. Although we recognise that currently the vast majority of our members will be subject to the provisions of the 1987 Regulations, a new Police Pension scheme was introduced for new recruits to the service from April 2006. These new Regulations are only applicable to new recruits and to those officers serving in April 2006 who elected to transfer to the new Police Pension scheme following its introduction. We have included links to explanatory booklets on both these schemes below.
Medical Pensions and Injury Awards are two areas that have experienced an unprecedented increase in growth of enquiries. Throughout the 43 Police Forces in England and Wales a much more robust and systematic approach to Medical Pensions and Injury Award review continues to develop. NARPO accepts this new approach, as long as it is carried out fairly and with compassion; is based on sound medical evidence and is conducted within the guideline of the relevant Police Regulations.
To fall in line with the Government’s ‘A Day’ proposals, intended to simplify pension provisions across the board, in April 2006 the Injury Award provisions were then included in a separate statutory instrument, The Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006. These Regulations are applicable to all current and former police officers irrespective of the Police Pension scheme to which they are a member. We have included a link to this legislation and a further link to advice on the medical appeals procedure applicable under Police Pension legislation.
Useful links http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/human-resources/pss-members-guide
http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/news-and-publications/publication/human-resources/PMAB_Guidance/
Public Service Pensioners Council Policy and Campaigning Objectives Click here to download the document in PDF format (Adobe Reader required).
National Pensioners Convention http://www.npcuk.org/
Home Office Guidance For Forces On Reviews Of Injury Awards Click here to download the document in PDF format (Adobe Reader required).
Simplicity, security and choice: Working and saving for retirement
This is one of the most crucial pieces of government thinking that has been produced since 1997. It will lay the foundation for Pension provision in this country for the next generation and will impact on every single NARPO member. Accordingly we have responded to the Green Paper with this comprehensive submission. It spells out our overall position and indicates in the clearest possible manner what we want to see in any future pension reform. As always we would be delighted to receive your views and opinions, not only on the Green Paper itself, but just as importantly on our response to the proposals. Responses can be E-mailed directly to Wakefield on depsec@narpo.org or via ordinary post to our Wakefield Headquarters address.
Click here to download the Pensions Green Paper in PDF format (Adobe Reader required).
The full report and a summary can be accessed on the internet at www.dwp.gov.uk/publications.
