Court of Appeal Decision: Pensions

*** Sent on behalf of National Chair John Apter and National Secretary Alex Duncan ***

Dear Colleagues,

We have today received the news that the Supreme Court has refused the Government leave to appeal the decision of the Court of Appeal which had previously held the transitional pension arrangements for Firefighters and Judges were illegal on the grounds of age discrimination.

We have been warning for some time about the potential negative impact on the pensions of our members if the problem is not addressed appropriately.

We are now urging the Government to issue its response to this decision as soon as possible in order for us to be able to fully assess what this will mean for all our members, and how those on the different schemes will be affected.

This Government is well aware we stand ready to engage in a constructive and positive way moving forward.

But given the uncertainty our hard-working police officers have faced since the introduction of the pension changes it is essential that a solution should be achieved at the earliest possible opportunity. And it is for this reason that we had been urging ministers to seek an industrial resolution should their appeal to the Supreme Court be unsuccessful.

On Monday (July 1), there will be meetings of the UK Police Pensions Consultative Forum, and the Scheme Advisory Board where all key policing stakeholders, including ourselves, will discuss the implications of the ruling and our next steps.

John Apter, National Chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales said: "Today we have received the decision of the Supreme Court which has refused the Government leave to appeal the decision of the Court of Appeal which had previously held the transitional pension arrangement for Firefighters and Judges were illegal on the grounds of age discrimination. And while I appreciate the demand for immediate answers, we have to wait for the Government to respond to the Supreme Court's announcement, analyse their decision and establish what it means for all our members. What I can tell you is that the Police Federation along with other key stakeholders in policing are meeting on Monday - July 1st - to discuss the implications of this ruling. We will update you as soon as we have more information. Please understand this is a highly complex matter, and we won't have answers for you immediately - but as soon as we do we will let you know."

There is a great deal of background and useful information on our website.