Chief Officers Meeting
Disability Discrimination Act
Pension scheme changes for new recruits
Background
From 1st October 2004 the provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act have
applied to police officers. As part of the implementation of this legislation an
amendment has been made to Police Pension Regulations. This amendment, which
will apply only to new recruits and those seeking to rejoin the service following a
break, allows Police Authorities to exclude officers from the ill health retirement
provisions of the pension scheme where there is a disproportionately high risk of ill
health retirement. Officers would pay reduced pension contributions but would not
access ill health retirement provisions even if the reason for early retirement is not
associated with the known disability.
Decision Making
When an applicant is examined by the Occupational Physician two questions will be
considered. The first will relate to fitness to work as a police officer. The second will
relate to risk of permanent disability before reaching normal retirement age. Where
the Occupational Physician considers that there is a significantly increased risk of
permanent disability the case must be referred to a Selected Medical Practitioner
(SMP) for a decision to be made. The SMP then reports his or her decision to the
Police Authority who are required to use tables provided by the Government
Actuary’s Department (GAD) to determine whether or not an applicant should be
admitted to the full benefits of the pension scheme.
Delegation of responsibility
The guidance provided by the Home Office states that the Police Authority may
delegate its’ responsibilities for decisions on eligibility for ill health pension benefits.
The advantage of such delegation would be that the process could be managed more
efficiently without the need to refer such cases through appropriate Police Authority
structures. The advantage of the Police Authority retaining this responsibility would
be that decisions regarding recruitment, which are the responsibility of the Chief
Constable, are completely separated from decisions regarding pension eligibility.
Conclusion
Chief Officers are asked to consider whether or not they would wish a
recommendation to be made to the Police Authority that their responsibilities in
respect of ill health pension provisions should be delegated to a nominated
representative of the Chief Constable. On balance, although administratively more
burdensome, I would recommend that the Police Authority retain responsibility as this
reduces the risk of candidates feeling that recruitment decisions are influenced by
pension decisions or vice versa.
Gail Boulter, HR Organisational Development Manager
29 November 2004
Document Outline
