Police: Workplace Pensions
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to revoke pensions from police officers convicted of violent crimes.
Answered by Sarah Jones
A police officer’s pension may be forfeited where an individual has been convicted of a criminal offence committed in connection with their service as a police officer, which the Secretary of State has certified as either gravely injurious to the interests of the State, or liable to lead to a serious loss of confidence.
Decisions on whether to forfeit a police officer’s pension and, if so, to what extent, are a matter for the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) of the relevant force. Whilst a PCC cannot forfeit a pension in these circumstances without a certificate from the Secretary of State, the issuance of such a certificate does not oblige them to proceed with forfeiture. Such decisions are made independently of government, and on a case-by-case basis.
It is not possible for the Secretary of State to proactively seek an application for a pension forfeiture certificate, or to issue such a certificate, without an application first being made by the relevant PCC. There are no current plans to amend these regulatory arrangements.
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