Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of changing the rules to allow prison officers who retire after failing their annual physical fitness test to receive their full pension.

Prison officers are members of the Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS), for which the policy is owned by HM Treasury and applied to the scheme by Cabinet Office.

Like all public sector pension schemes, a member of the CSPS can consider taking retirement at any time after reaching the age of 55 (increases to 57 from 2028).

If there is an underlying medical condition which significantly impacts a prison officer from carrying out their role, they may be considered for Ill Health Retirement.