Corporate Information Management Department

Force Headquarters, PO Box 37, Valley Road,

Portishead, Bristol, BS20 8QJ

Facsimile 01275 814667

    

Private Our Reference 749 /14

 
Your reference  
Barry Takel

[1][FOI #220164 email] Date 15th July
2014
 

 

Dear Mr. Takel,

 

I write in connection with your request for information dated 14^th July
2014 concerning police injury pensions. This request will be dealt with
under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

 

Your request will now be considered and you will receive a response within
the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the Act. In some
circumstances Avon and Somerset Constabulary may be unable to achieve this
deadline if consideration needs to be given to the public interest test.
If this is likely you will be informed and given a revised time-scale at
the earliest opportunity.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

C Quartey

 

Freedom of Information Officer

Corporate Information Management Department

 

Please note;

1.     Requests and responses may be published on Avon and Somerset
Constabulary’s website (within 24 hours), some of which may contain a link
to additional information, which may provide you with further
clarification.

2.     Whilst we may verbally discuss your request with you in order to
seek clarification, all other communication should be made in writing.

3.     Avon and Somerset Constabulary provides you with the right to
request a re-examination of your case under its review procedure.

 

 

show quoted sections

Corporate Information Management Department

Force Headquarters, PO Box 37, Valley Road,

Portishead, Bristol, BS20 8QJ

Facsimile 01275 814667

Email foirequests@avonandsomerset.police.uk    

 

 

 

 

Private Our Reference 749/14

Barry Takel
Your reference  
[1][FOI #220164 email]
Date 28 July 2014
 

 

Dear Mr Takel

 

I write in connection with your request for information dated 14^th July
concerning police injury pensions. 

 

Specifically you asked:

At the AVON AND SOMERSET POLICE AND CRIME COMMISSIONER JOINT FINANCE
MEETING: 24/07/2013, it was minuted,

 

"The PCC’s attention was also drawn to the Injury on Duty Payment which is
a recurring payment for someone who is medically retired but was injured
whilst on duty (this includes the commuting journey). This is payable
every year until death and currently accounts for £5.6m of the central pay
budget (half). The Head of Retained Finance has raised this issue with
Winsor following the Winsor Review, which did not pick this issue up, and
the Constabulary suggests that consideration should be given to this
ceasing at national retirement age".

 

Please supply me with any documents or details of any communication from
the Head of Retained Finance to Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of
Constabulary, Tom Winsor  in respect of Injury on Duty Payments, prior to,
and  which led to it being raised at the meeting of 24/07/2013.

 

Please supply me with any documents or details of any communication from
Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary, Tom Winsor, to the Head of
Retained Finance in respect of Injury on Duty Payments, prior to, and
which led up to it being raised at the meeting of 24/07/2013.

 

Please supply me with any documents or details of any communication  which
gave the Head of Retained Finance authority to communicate to Her
Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary in respect of Injury on Duty
Payments, prior to, and  which led to it being raised at the meeting of
24/07/2013.

 

Please supply me with any documents or details of any communication to
which the Head of Retained Finance refers at the meeting of 24/07/2013,
and which records the fact that, " the Constabulary suggests that
consideration should be given to this ceasing at national retirement age".

 

The issue was raised with Tom Winsor by the Constabulary’s Head of
Retained Finance at a meeting that they both attended on 13^th May 2013. 
There was no correspondence exchanged on this issue, however it was
followed up by a phone call several weeks later from someone from HMIC on
Tom Winsor’s behalf to explain that they were of the view that this issue
was subject of a review by the Home Office.  As a senior manager in the
Constabulary the Head of Retained Financial Services does not need
anyone’s permission to raise these types of issues.

 

The issue of injury on duty pensions is a sensitive one.  The need to
review injury on duty enhancements is set in legislation and as such we
are required to carry out these reviews at such intervals as may be
suitable.  However we also cannot ignore the fact that there is a cost of
these awards which is borne by the budget of the PCC and Constabulary.  In
this respect every penny that is spent on injury on duty pension
enhancements reduces the amount we can spend on day to day policing
services to the communities of Avon & Somerset.

 

Given the financial climate we now operate in the PCC and Constabulary
have a duty to review and consider all costs, with a particular emphasis
on cost reduction in order to protect frontline services.  Avon &
Somerset’s annual spend on injury on duty pension enhancements currently
stands at £5.9m p.a.  This represents 2.2% of our annual budget, which
equates to the cost of 130 police officers and is greater than the annual
cost of running and maintaining our entire vehicle fleet of over a
thousand vehicles.  As our funding declines, this cost continues to grow
through indexation.  Therefore over time the cost of injury on duty
pensions will increasingly account for a larger and larger element of our
budget.

 

Our spend on injury on duty pensions means that Avon & Somerset have one
of the highest levels of spend of any UK police force.  This level of
spend is largely historic (new numbers of injury pension are limited to a
handful every year) and is therefore a legacy situation that the current
Chief Constable and PCC have inherited.  We estimate that the current
liability on the PCC and Constabulary to fund existing injury on duty
pensions runs until 2067/68 and has a current (un-indexed) value of £167m.

 

The purpose in raising this issue was to enhance its visibility as highly
as possible.  In so doing we hope that this will lead to greater
recognition of the situation.  This greater recognition could lead to
either:-

 

·         A change to the legislation which governs the current ways in
which injury pensions are reviewed; or

·         A greater understanding on the part of our central government
funders that there is a substantial element of our cost base that we are
unable to reduce therefore reducing the total budget from which savings
can be achieved.

 

 

 

Yours sincerely

 

C Quartey

 

Freedom of Information Officer

Corporate Information Management Department

 

 

Please note:

1.     Requests and responses may be published on Avon and Somerset
Constabulary’s website (within 24 hours), some of which may contain a link
to additional information, which may provide you with further
clarification.

2.     Whilst we may verbally discuss your request with you in order to
seek clarification, all other communication should be made in writing.

3.     Avon and Somerset Constabulary provides you with the right to
request a re-examination of your case under its review procedure (copy
attached).

 

 

 

 

show quoted sections