Pensions ruling

21 December 2018

The Police Federation is seeking fresh legal advice after the Court of Appeal ruled that the Government’s changes to the pension schemes of judges and firefighters were discriminatory on the grounds of age.

The legal challenge on behalf of the judges and firefighters came after changes to public sector pensions in 2015 which also affected police officers.

Alex Duncan, national secretary of the Federation, said yesterday when the ruling was announced: “This remains a complicated issue, with no certainty over how the Government will choose to address the ruling.

“Today’s announcement seems like good news, but we need to digest the full judgement and of course we will continue to keep our position under review.”

The Federation had previously taken legal advice which suggested any legal challenge on officers’ behalf would not be successful.

Since yesterday’s ruling, however, the Federation’s principal officers have met and Alex has now decided the Federation will seek further legal advice from a different counsel to thoroughly review the previous advice, the latest Court of Appeal ruling and arguments put forward within that case. It will also include advice from pensions specialists, allowing the Federation to better understand what the latest development means to members and how best to represent them moving forward.

Find out more about pensions.

FAQs re the Federation’s stance on the 2015 CARE Pension Scheme.