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Police and fire pensions
09/09/2008
The Scottish Government is to provide over £32 million this year to meet the extra cost of revised pension commutation arrangements for police officers and firefighters.
The decision follows the refusal of the Treasury to fund the extra cost as was done for police and fire personnel south of the border and will be implemented immediately.
In addition, new arrangements to tackle the longer term pressures on police and fire pensions are being discussed with COSLA and other representatives of the Police and Fire services.
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said:
"We need to put an end to the uncertainty that has been caused by the Treasury's refusal to treat our police officers and firefighters the same way as their colleagues south of the border. They have been short-changed by the UK Government.
"While we will continue to press the UK Government to fund the pension commutation arrangements, the Scottish Government has moved quickly to end the uncertainty.
"This is the right and proper thing to do for our hard-pressed police and fire services.
"We are also addressing the longer term pensions issues. Discussions are continuing with COSLA and representatives of the Police and Fire services. We hope to reach a joint solution soon."
Joe Grant, General Secretary of the Scottish Police Federation said,
"I am pleased the Scottish Government has agreed to implement the new pension commutation tables in Scotland. The two month delay was unfortunate but I understand the critical importance of the question, "who pays? However HM Treasury should be providing funds for Scotland to meet these costs as it did for England and Wales."
Ken Ross, Scottish Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union:
"We very much welcome this announcement from the Scottish Government that, despite the apparent intransigency from the Treasury, it has found the resources to fund the extra costs of revised commutation factors for Scottish firefighters. It is only right that Scottish firefighters receive the same benefits payments as their peers in the rest of the UK."
The new commutation arrangements set the lump sum that can be bought in exchange for (commuting) a lower amount of annual pension. The Scottish Government funding will be backdated to October 1, 2007 and will ensure that police and fire boards have the necessary resources to meet these extra costs in 2008/09.