Home Secretary tells staff association there will be no update on pensions until Parliament returns

Police officers will have to wait until September at the earliest to discover the changes to their pensions, it has been announced this week.

The Police Federation said it has been told there will be “no announcements” from the Home Secretary Theresa May on officer pensions until Parliament comes back from recess.

¬The dialogue between the Home Office and Staff Side is continuing and the Federation will provide more information as and when this is available.¬

The Home Secretary had given a police pensions “discussion” deadline of July 24. But at the end of July it was revealed "further dialogue" will be allowed.

Mrs May wants to introduce a “career average” pension scheme for police officers from 2015, a normal pension age of 60, average member contributions of 13.7 per cent, an accrual rate of 1/57ths and a revaluation based on national average earnings.

In addition, the Home Office has said police officers aged 45 or over on April 1 this year or any officer aged 40 or over and less than 10 years from full pension on that date will see no change to their pension.

There will be protection of accrued rights.

It has also been clarified the “deferred pension age” - the age at which an officer who does not serve until the proposed normal pension age of 60 becomes entitled to a pension - would be state pension age, which is due to increase to 67.

Unlike pay, police officers have no power of negotiation on pensions and this matter will not go to arbitration.

Speaking at the end of July, Ian Rennie, Fed General Secretary, said there was "considerable concern" among officers about future pension arrangements.

In a letter to members, he added: “The precise position in relation to future pension arrangements is not yet known.

“The position of each member will depend on the precise arrangements which are introduced. Until these are known it is not possible to say how, and to what extent, individual officers will be affected.

“The dialogue between the Home Office and Staff Side is continuing and the Federation will provide more information as and when this is available.”