Lord Hendy (Lab):...The Police Superintendents’ Association has
been making representations to the relevant Treasury Minister —not
the noble Lord, of course—for months. I am told that it has been,
in effect, stonewalled. In a letter to the relevant Minister dated
a week ago, Chief Superintendent Dan Murphy of the PSA asked for
confirmation that the Minister had ignored the PSA’s continuous
request for the Government to informally engage with the PSA to
resolve the taxation detriment...Request free trial
(Lab):...The Police Superintendents’
Association has been making representations to the
relevant Treasury Minister —not the noble Lord, of course—for
months. I am told that it has been, in effect, stonewalled. In a
letter to the relevant Minister dated a week ago, Chief
Superintendent Dan Murphy of the PSA asked for
confirmation that the Minister had ignored the
PSA’s continuous request for the Government to
informally engage with the PSA to resolve the
taxation detriment suffered by its members and to formally consult
with the PSA to resolve taxation detriment, and
listed a number of other failures. He concluded by saying that the
Police Pension Scheme advisory board was not satisfying the
requirements for full and meaningful consultation, and cited some
evidence to support that...
(Non-Afl): My Lords, I
intend to touch on matters concerning police pensions, but I stress
that I represent no one but myself in the words I say. I do not
have a financial interest in this matter, although I do have a
police pension from my time in the service of 35 years, reaching
the rank of chief superintendent, and from three years as president
of the Police Superintendents’ Association...
...Having set the context of where we are, I briefly come to
the Bill before the House, which is another source of grievance.
The matter of police pensions has of course been touched on by the
noble Baroness, Lady Janke, and by the noble Lords, and . Police of all ranks feel that it reduces their pension
entitlement. It is seen as yet another change with little
consultation, which police officers passionately believe worsens
the conditions of service under which they joined. All this at a
time when the Government are trying to recruit thousands more
police officers in order to hold the thin blue line. When I was
president of the Police Superintendents’
Association I had excellent relationships with the noble
Lord, , and the Home Secretary who followed him, the
right honourable . One of the best recruiting sergeants when I joined the
service was the excellent police pension scheme. I recall the
sergeant addressing the recruits at the training school, imploring
all those present to join the scheme— I certainly never regretted
it...
(Con):...I move on to another important subject, the
Police Superintendents’ Association, which was
raised by a number of Peers, including the noble Lords, and Lord Davies, the noble Baroness, Lady Janke, and the
noble Lord, Lord Mackenzie. As the House might expect, I cannot
comment too much on the specifics of any live, ongoing litigation.
However, I confirm that this Bill will ensure that all eligible
public service workers have access to high-quality defined benefit
schemes on a fair and equal basis. From 1 April 2022, all those who
continue in service in the main underfunded schemes will do so as
members of the reformed schemes, regardless of age. Legacy schemes
will close to future accrual, which means that from this point
onwards all members will be treated equally in terms of which
pension scheme they are a member of. I noted very strongly the
points raised in particular by the noble Lord, Lord Mackenzie, and,
while I cannot comment too much, I shall pledge to pass his
comments on.
I want to say a little more on this point. The Government
consulted on proposals to remedy the discrimination identified by
the courts in July 2020. Officials met with the scheme advisory
boards for the public service schemes, including the scheme
advisory board for the police pension scheme. The Government
published the response in February this year, and officials have
arranged a further meeting tomorrow to discuss the Bill with
stakeholders, including the Police Superintendents’
Association. The Home Office will undertake further
consultation with employee representatives of the police pension
scheme in relation to the scheme regulations, which will set out
the detailed changes to the scheme. I hope that gives some comfort
that some progress has been made...
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