Police body slams plans for new pension scheme

“Stork,

I think you are missing the point. Yes Public sector 'Pension' Schemes have been good. Try if you can to take a more holistic approach and consider the 'package of employment' that an officer or any worker public or private signs up to. The package in this case is a mix of salary now and pension later etc. It appears very harsh to split the package after the deal is accepted. The contributions for the police are high but in return they got the pension after 30 yrs rather like the armed forces not like the private sector. No one in the private sector was stopped from taking out a pension it was just not part of the package... Be very clear on the changes proposed before you judge too quickly.

The police cannot strike, they cannot do anything that a normal person can do in terms of employment relations. 15 plus yrs ago when many signed up they required permission from their employer on where to live etc.

They were told that if you do this and contribute xxx you will get yyy in return. This promise has now been broken.

What is even more frustrating is David Cameron and the Government said they would atleast honor contributions already paid. This has also now been broken as an Officer cannot taken the pension already earned at the time promised unless they agree to pay into the new one. This not not a good deal at all.

To clarify there are official worked examples here http://tinyurl.com/4pgyj however they fail to mention cost.

For example,

An officer who joined in 1998 aged 19 would have retired from that particular job from a current salary of 36k on a pension of about 24k before commutation after 30 years.

The current pension they have been paying into would amount to 17yrs raised to 22 because of the 40x60 ruling before ending in 2015 so that officer will get approx £13,600 from that pension. In order to take that after 30rs service they HAVE TO PAY INTO THE NEW ONE. They have NO CHOICE under the current ruling. They cannot say, "you know what, I understand, thanks for the offer but I cannot afford so much and so I will not pay in to the new pension and will use it towards my mortgage instead."

If this officer does retire after 30yrs they are more likely to get closer to 18k in total after paying more. If they choose not to join the new scheme they wont get it for another 10 years.

There is good reason for this as the police pension is not funded like the many private pensions. Current contributions pay those currently already retired . Bad system I know but not the officers fault. If many officers could choose NOT pay at all into the new pension scheme they probably would not but then the government knows that the system would collapse.

In essence for a contract agreed 15yrs ago I now know that if my wife wants essentially the same pension she signed up for she needs to work for 5 yrs more and pay in excess of 80K + more in contributions and lost pension.

Put another way if she retires at 50 she gets £13600 from current and about 5k from the new. She cannot take the older pension without leaving and retiring. If she works from 2015 until 2038 to the age of 60 to get more of the new pension she loses 11yrs of pension that would have been paid (149k) plus the 5k a year on contributions or 200k over 10 years for 10k a year so will have to make 80 before she snu*** it just to get her money back.

I have a friend in the private sector with no pension as he says he cannot afford one.. He earns 112k a year and drives a nice BMW and goes on good holidays. We have a second had saab with 150k on the clock and go camping and work nights. He is always telling us how lucky public sector workers are, I always ask him why he did not join then ?”

“Dont believe everything you read. My pension at the end of 30 years of service and contributions of over £300 per months works out at £5800 per year under the new scheme. This would be if I retired at the end of 30 years. Add to that the fact it cant be claimed until I am 60. 30 Years of abuse, being spat at, assaulted, screamed at , dealing with death on sometimes a daily basis for £5800 a year at the end of my service. What is the point. The police pension was always good but that is because we pay alot higher contributions than most. I left a non contributory pension in a previous job worth alot more than this. Its an absolute discrace.”

“How much Do MPs get and how much are there pension's All in it together LMAO”

“Don't worry to much G4S are going to get a lot of contracts that the police have to do for half the pay. The only problem being you will get less than half the service as most of them cant be ****d to turn up. But there again we have the Army to fill in. Totalitarian Gov heading your way thanks to the Atlantic bridge beloved by the cabinet.”

“Irrespective of the difficulties of being a police officer. Their pension scheme is probably one of the best in the UK. No private company could come anywhere near the levels of benefit that many public sector pensioners receive. Virtually all private sector companies are finishing their company pension schemes. The last figures I saw, were about 85% of public sector workers due for a pension, only about 15% of private sector workers due for a pension.The police might think that they are a special case, but there are workers like nurses who can also claim that their workplace can sometimes be dangerous. In the meanwhile, 25% of our Council Tax goes to pay state pensions, with probably more to pay on the horizon.”