The government has confirmed today an increase to police officer pension contributions from 1st April 2013. Bobbies now face 1% and 1.25% increases in what they pay depending on which pension scheme they contribute to. This will take personal contributions up to 13.5% and 11.5% one of the highest in the public sector!
Taking into account the backdrop of the implementation of the Winsor recommendations, cuts of 20% to budgets and a pay-freeze, this will be seen as yet another body-blow to the police officers of England and Wales.
We have known that this has been coming for some time as the government stated its intentions early in the current Parliament – citing long-term affordability as one of the main reasons for pensions ‘reform’.
The Prime-Minister, other government ministers and MPs often bandy about the term“gold-plated” when referring to police and other public sector pensions. They have used it perhaps hoping that it will become ingrained in the national psyche so that when they do legislate for hikes in contributions there will be no sympathy for those affected.
What makes this an even more bitter pill to swallow is the apparent hypocrisy of those that lurk behind Pugin’s façade as we are certainly NOT “all in it together.”Last February, the Senior Salaries Review Body recommended that MPs’ pension contributions should rise by 2.4% to reflect the amount paid by ordinary public sector workers.However this was decreased to 1.85% following an intervention by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority [IPSA].
The Treasury expected and budgeted for the same increase of 1.85% this year, but any increases in MPs’ pension contributions have now been deferred.
Much has been said about the Police Federation’s ballot into whether officers wanted the Police Federation of England and Wales to pursue “industrial rights”for members. The stark fact is that earlier this week it was revealed that over 45,651 police officers felt that they needed ‘industrial rights’ to protect them from their own government.
A survey of police officers by the University of the West of England also revealed that 95.1% of respondents did not have confidence in the long term government plans for the police.
The fact that the PM and all MPs now apparently enjoy“platinum-plated parliamentary pensions” will boost neither confidence nor morale. Having read “Animal Farm” back in the 70s for my GCE in English a certain phrase comes to mind … now what was it ??
Clive
Clive Chamberlain
Chairman of Dorset Police Federation
