30+ Retention Scheme:
Comprehensive Scheme Review 2008
The 30+ scheme arose from the Police Negotiating Board Agreement of May 2002 and gives police forces
the opportunity to retain personnel with valuable skills and experience which would otherwise be lost to
retirement. It does so by offering police officers the opportunity to take advantage of an early tax-free lump
sum payment while continuing to serve as an attested officer at the same rank and pay level as before.
This measure was introduced in order to reduce mass retirement, avoid recruitment bulges and address
potential skills shortages that would have resulted from this.
The scheme was given approval by Ministers and HM Treasury to run until 31 March 2010, when it is due
to be closed to new entrants. However, an increasing number of late joiners to the police service, the
higher compulsory retirement ages (CRAs) introduced in October 2006 and the growing cohort of members
of the New Police Pension Scheme (2006) that must now accrue 35 years service before receiving a
maximum pension have all been factors that have potentially reduced the operational need for this scheme
in recent years. These factors, amongst others, may mean that we need to consider closing the scheme
before 2010 subject to the outcome of this review.
In order to evaluate the continued effectiveness of the scheme we have produced this questionnaire to
assess the way in which the scheme has been operated since its pilot in 2002. We kindly ask that you
complete it in full. We appreciate that some of the information may not be readily available but the
information required is vital to helping us make the correct decision regarding the continuation of this
scheme. If you have any queries about any of the questions, please do not hesitate to call or email us.
Notes on completing the form
This is an electronic form. You complete each section by clicking on the grey box next to or underneath
each question. You can then write as much as you like. When you have finished, either click on the next
box, or press the ‘TAB’ key to jump to the next box. Where the grey box says “Please select”, click on it to
display the options for answering. Then click on your choice.
When you have completed the form, please:
•
save it as ‘30+ Review <insert force name>’ (e.g. 30+ Review Dorset) and email it to me at
S. 40(2)
@npia.pnn.police.uk, or
•
print it out and post it to me at the address below:
S. 40(2)
(telephone S. 40(2)
)
Workforce Strategy Unit
NPIA
10th Floor, New King’s Beam House
22 Upper Ground
London SE1 9QY
PLEASE RETURN THE COMPLETED QUESTIONNAIRE BY
FRIDAY 11 APRIL 2008
Force Contact Details
Name:
S. 40(2)
Job Title:
Head of Recruitment, Selection &
Development
Force:
Dy
D fed-Powy
w s
y Police
Email:
S. 40(2)
@dyfed-powys.pnn.police.uk
Contact no.:
S. 40(2)
S. 40(2)
Address:
Dyfed-Powys Police HQ, PO Box 99, Llangunnor, Carmarthen, SA31 2PF
1. When did your force start operating the scheme (including any pilot scheme)?
September 2004
2. Does your force have any officers on the 30+ scheme?
yes
3. Are you still accepting new entrants onto the scheme?
yes
If yes, skip to question 5
4. If you have closed the scheme to new entrants, when did you do so and what were your reasons?
5. What is your policy regarding those already on the scheme, i.e. have you retained them beyond their annual
reviews, and if so, why?
We have retained one individual beyond their original agreed period. This officer was in a S. 40(2)
w
S. 40(2)
hich was being considered for civilianisation. Whilst this was being considered it was deemed
necessary for us to continue to employ this individual in the specialist role to avoid recruitment and training
costs in respect to a police officer
6. If your force is still accepting new entrants, how do officers in your force generally find out about the 30+ scheme?
Force Intranet:
7. What information or materials do you routinely supply to officers before they apply?
Full details of the scheme, application form, opportunity to discuss the matter with their local HR Manager
and Scheme Administrator.
8. Please outline details of the process by which officers apply for the 30+ scheme, and by which your force
assesses applications and makes decisions. Please give as much information as possible (including any process
maps or flow charts where appropriate).
Enquiry received by Supervisor, referred to Divisional HR Manager, advise provided to both departmental Head or
BCU Commander, application form issued, application form returned included supporting documents for business case
completed by line manager, sent to BCU Commander and HR Manager for approval, issued to Head of Financial
Management for confirmation that business case has been completed and retention costs are effective, arrangemetns
made with Occupational Heatlh Department for medical assessment to be completed for FMA, vetting forms completed
and submitted to Force Vetting Officer for clearance, once cleared returned to Force 30+ Administrator, form then
submitted to Head of HR for confirmation of re-engagement and final authorisation by Chief Constable. 30+
Administrator then scrutinises all processes and porovides notification to individual and Finance department that 30+
has been agreed for the stipulated period of time subject to annual reviews.
9. What number of officers who reached 30 years pensionable service in the year from 1 March 2007 to 29 February
2008 (inclusive) did the following?
Retire and leave the police service
25
Retire and join police (civilian) staff (incl. redeployments)
6
Retire and join the Special Constabulary
0
Apply for 30+ scheme
4
Stay on and reduce hours from full-time to part-time
0
Stay on as before/no change
12
10. Please complete the table below with the information regarding 30+ applications in the year from 1 March 2007 to
29 February 2008 (inclusive) and in total (i.e. since your force has been operating the scheme, including any pilot
period and last year’s numbers).
2
Prospective 30+ Officers
Last 12 months
TOTAL
Number of eligible officers
47
92
Number of applications received
4
19
Number of applications rejected
0
1
Average age upon application
50.5
52
Average length of pensionable service upon application
30
30.5
11. Please complete the table below with the information for officers who were accepted onto the scheme in the
year from 1 March 2007 to 29 February 2008 (nclusive) and for all officers who ever joined the scheme (including
any pilot period and last year’s numbers).
Current 30+ Officers
Last 12 months
TOTAL
Number of officers who joined the scheme
4
18
… of which are in specialist/hard-to-fill roles
4
14
… with a detailed succession plan
1
7
Average time between retirement and 30+ re-engagement
1 day
1 day
Average time of re-engagement initially requested
2 years
3 years
Applications for maximum four-year initial appointment
0
7
Appointments that were extended
1
1
... of which were initial four-year appointments
1
1
… with a detailed succession plan
1
1
Officers on restricted duties
0
0
Redeployments
0
0
Number of 30+ Officers living in police houses
0
0
12. Please give a diversity breakdown by rank and gender of officers who joined 30+ in the year from 1 March 2007
to 29 February 2008 (inclusive).
30+ Officers
Constable
Sergeant
Inspector
Ch Inspector
Superintend’t
Ch Supt
Feb 2006 to present
M
F
M
F
M
F
M
F
M
F
M
F
British
White
Irish
Other
Indian
Asian/
Pakistani
Asian
Bangladeshi
British
Other
Black/
Caribbean
S. 40(2)
Black
African
British
Other
White
& Blk Carib
White
Mixed
& Blk Afr
White &
Asian
Other
Chinese
Other
Other
Disabled
Age
48-55
3
55+
Hetero
Sex
Homo
Bi
Not
specified
Buddhist
S. 40(2)
Christian
Hindu
Jewish
Faith
Muslim
Sikh
None
Other
13. Please give a diversity breakdown by rank and gender for ALL officers currently retained on 30+.
All current30+
Constable
Sergeant
Inspector
Ch Inspector
Superintend’t
Ch Supt
Officers
M
F
M
F
M
F
M
F
M
F
M
F
British
White
Irish
Other
Indian
Asian/
Pakistani
Asian
Bangladeshi
British
Other
Black/
Caribbean S. 40(2)
Black
African
British
Other
White
& Blk Carib
White
Mixed
& Blk Afr
White &
Asian
Other
Chinese
Other
Other
Disabled
48-55
Age
55+
Hetero
Sex
Homo
Bi
Not
specified
Buddhist
Christian
Hindu
Jewish
Faith
Muslim
Sikh
None
Other
14. Please outline the savings made or costs incurred through 30+ retentions, broken down by rank and averaged per
year, using generic costings where specific numbers are not available (please refer to costings template for
guidance on calculating these figures)
Average Saving* per
Rank
Number of these on 30+
TOTAL Saving*
year of retention
Constable
14
£15195
£212,730
Sergeant
4
£9146
£36,584
Inspector
£
£
Chief Inspector
£
£
4
Superintendent
£
£
Chief Superintendent
£
£
Overall saving*:
£249,314
* where a cost was incurred, please mark this as a negative saving, e.g. -£1,234.
15. Please outline details of the process by which an officer’s continuing participation is kept under review whilst on
the scheme. Please give as much information as possible (including any process maps, annual review report
templates or flow charts where appropriate).
Annually each 30+ applicant has a report report completed in respect to the continued effectiveness and
relevance of their business case to ensure that this still applies. Up until the introduction of the new age
legislation in October 2006 each individual also had to undergo an annual medical review.
16. Please complete the table below with information on the circumstances surrounding any 30+ appointments that
were terminated early, i.e. before the date forecast by the business case for retention.
30+ appointments terminated early…
Last 12 months
TOTAL
… through officer’s resignation
1
6
… on grounds of ill-health
0
0
… on grounds of efficiency (A19 or efficiency regulations)
0
1
… on grounds of (mis)conduct
0
0
… at annual review
0
0
… mid-year (i.e. business case becoming invalid unexpectedly)
0
0
Officers who qualified for injury awards whist serving on 30+
0
0
Officer disciplined (conduct regulations) whilst serving on 30+
0
0
17. Please complete the table below with information on appeals against any decisions you made to terminate an
officer’s 30+ appointment.
Number of appeals against decision to terminate contract…
Last 12 months
TOTAL
… at end of initially granted appointment
0
0
… of which were successful
0
0
… at annual review
0
0
… of which were successful
0
0
… mid-year
0
0
… of which were successful
0
0
18. Please give details of any appeals (including any internal appeals, informal challenges, employment tribunals etc)
involving 30+, including copies of any relevant paperwork where appropriate.
N/A
19. How have retirement patterns changed since the introduction of the scheme? Please complete the table below
with the information relating to the period before the scheme was piloted in 2002 and the last 12 months (1 March
2007 to 29 February 2008 inclusive).
Last 12 months
2002
Average retirement age
50.4
51.3
Average length of service upon retirement
28.8
29.7
5
Percentage of officers who retired upon reaching maximum pension
57.8%
72%
benefits
Percentage of officers retained in specialist roles with more than 30
39%
Not available
years service (including those on 30+ and not)
20. How many officers in your force are likely to become eligible to retire with maximum pension benefits over the next
three years?
2008/09: 27
2009/10: 37
2010/11: 41
21. Are you planning to keep the scheme open to new entrants until 2010?
yes
If not, please give your reasoning behind this decision, and state when you anticipate this to take effect:
22. If your force intends to keep operating the scheme, what effect would it have on your force if the scheme was to be
centrally closed to new entrants…
a) now?
As this has not been planned for, this will have some impact on our ability to deal with some
specialist posts. However succession planning has commenced in this respect and therefore as long as we
were provided with early notification the force should be able to deal sufficiently with these issues over a 6
to 9 month period.
or
b) in 2010? As the current scheme is scheduled to finish in 2010 this is being dealt with as part of our
force succession planning and all individuals are being notified at present that 30+ is unlikely to
continue beyond this date.
23. What plans do you have for phasing out those accepted onto the scheme?
Any new applicants to the scheme are being informed that they are only likely to be retained until 2010
and departmental heads together with the Career Development Officer are being informed of this and therefore
succession planning into these hard to fill specialist posts is being done via better HR planning for the future.
24. Beyond 2010, do you foresee a shortage of skilled and experienced officers, and if so, what plans do you have to
deal with your operational needs for retaining valuable skills and experience?
As above.
25. Overall, how would you summarise your experience with the scheme since its introduction?
The scheme has enabled us to make significant savings in respect to recruitment and training costs in
some specialist hard to fill roles. This has enabled us to carry out succession planning which in some cases
is linked to the police modernisation programme and enabled us to do this in a staged and managed way.
26. Any other comments?
END OF QUESTIONNAIRE
Thank you very much.
6