The last week has proven to be an incredibly difficult time for police officers and in particular those who have found themselves massively disadvantaged by the Government`s assault upon our pensions. This is yet another example of the contempt that this Government holds the police service in and comes just after the closure of the Olympics where we bailed them out after their pals in the private security industry failed to deliver.
There is a lot of emotion and understandable anger amongst colleagues following the pensions announcement and we in GMP Federation completely understand that. However we also have to be realistic as to what the Federation can achieve, as well as being very clear in spelling out that our options were very limited during the discussions that were held on pensions. It may be useful to dispel a few rumours and set out the position we were presented with when the original plans were released. Firstly, and most importantly, the Police Federation have no negotiation rights whatsoever on the area
of pension reform. The Government are only required to `consult` and after an appropriate period of consultation they can and will impose what they feel is appropriate. Be under no illusion that those on the other side know the rules inside out and would have jumped for joy if the Police Federation and Superintendent`s Association had walked out of any discussions. This would have left the way clear for them to simply impose the initial proposals and they would have simply said that we had declined to enter into discussions. Had we done this then thousands of police officers up and down the country would have found themselves much worse off than where we currently are and they quite rightly would have attacked us for failing to engage and do our best for them. We completely understand that many police officers have lost out massively because of these changes, however we had to be realistic in trying to hammer out the best deal we could for as many colleagues as possible, whilst doing this with one arm tied behind our back.
If anybody is in any doubt as to what was achieved then please visit the national PFEW website and look at the original proposals and compare them. No other public sector worker still has the option of retiring at 55 years of age on a reduced pension and we were able to move the age band of protection from 40 to 38 to catch those who joined at a young age. This is far from where we would have liked to have been, but this was hammered out after hours and days of intense discussions with people from the Home Office who knew full well that we had no silver bullet in our arsenal and that they did not have to make any concessions at all. Nobody in the Police Federation is saying that this is a good deal, what we have managed to do though is make the best out of a bad situation which is not of our making.
We have been asked if there are any legal challenges open to us in terms of `pensions mis- selling` and also the protection afforded by previous pensions regulations, most notably Section 2. As you would expect those involved in the national discussions have employed the services of the very best solicitors and leading Counsel who are acknowledged experts in this field. The very clear legal advice is that there is no realistic challenge at the moment because nothing has been enacted, however this is always something which will stay under review. Please be assured that if anybody who knows what they are talking about on this subject comes to us with the basis of a legal case then that will be explored in minute detail and if there is any merit in it then the Federation nationally may mount a challenge.
What I am not going to do though is be dishonest with colleagues and tell them that we have some last minute miraculous challenge by way of a loophole that will make all this go away - because we have not. You deserve and expect us to be honest with you, as opposed to telling you what you want to hear because it gives us a quiet life. Your representatives from Progress House attend meetings nationally and these are the kind of questions that are being asked every time and if we became aware of anything we would be all over it.
Disturbingly we have heard that some officers are considering pulling out of the Police Pensions scheme. Can we urge anybody who is thinking of making this kind of life-altering decision to ensure that they are in full possession of all the facts before they act. Pensions are a massively complex area of personal finance that police officers traditionally have had little detailed understanding of because it has all been pretty much taken care of for us. This is now a game changer. Individuals need bespoke personal financial advice with their own IFA before acting, as they may live to regret decisions taken now in later life. We are alive to the need for accurate information and today we are in the process of finalising arrangements for a series of Pensions Seminars to be held at key locations within the force within the next few weeks. These will be delivered by a Financial Advisor who will explain the changes in broad detail and make comparisons with what is available in the wider marketplace with what we have been left with. He will also no doubt make the point that the announcements last week only set out plans that will be implemented in April 2015, so for the next two and a half years every member of a police pension scheme will continue to accrue into their pension pot at the same rate they have always done. If you take one message from reading this please let it be that you need to get detailed information from specialists, as there is a lot of inaccurate information being passed around that could result in colleagues making disastrously flawed decisions for themselves and their families.
In conclusion can I say that we completely understand that officers are angry - so are we. But lets direct that anger towards those who are attacking us. A general election is looming and MPs are starting to fear for their seats. We have always said that the most effective tool is political pressure from backbenchers upon ministers who embarking upon ideological attacks upon public services. We still have Winsor 2 to deal with and we cannot do this without your help. The Federation are constantly being told by Tom Winsor and his cronies that police officers understand the reality of the situation and are keen to see changes to their pay and conditions as they want to modernise. When we tell them the reality they counter with the fact that very few officers are contacting their MPs and making any noise about it and so it is simply the Police Federation who are out of touch and opposing change. Please do not fall into the category of those colleagues who expect somebody else to do it, as all that happens is that nobody does it - and then we end up being swept along by a Government who is intent on dismantling the finest police service in the world.
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