Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that the provisions of the Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Act 2022 will apply to police officers who retire after 1 October 2023.

The Government is taking steps to remove discrimination on the grounds of age, associated with the transitional protection arrangements linked to the 2015 pension reforms, which was subsequently identified by the courts.

The Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Act (PSPJOA) received Royal Assent on 10 March, establishing the legal framework to provide this remedy. The Police and Firefighters’ Pension Schemes (Amendment) Regulations 2022 (‘the Regulations’) provided the first, prospective, element of the remedy in respect of police pensions.

The second, retrospective, part of the remedy is more complex and will require further detailed changes to scheme regulations using the powers in the PSPJOA. These changes will be in force by 1 October 2023, in line with the Government’s commitments under that Act.