Contingent Decision is where an officer has opted out of their pension scheme during the remedy period 1 April 2015 – 31 March 2022.

There are four contingent decision areas:
• Opt Outs – officers who opted out due to the remedy can apply for their pensionable service for that period to be reinstated.
• Honoraria – officers who made a choice around honoraria that they would not have made if they had known of the remedy position can revisit that decision.
• Additional service – officers can apply to purchase additional service in their legacy scheme if they meet the criteria to do so.
• Transfers – officers can apply to transfer pensions in or out – transfers in are going to be the most popular part of this Contingent Decision.

However, one of the four contingent decision provisions was the ability to apply to buy back service if a member had opted out of the pension scheme due to the remedy.

This provision has been paused as the Home Office do not feel the legislation as drafted allows for members to buy back into the 1987 scheme and that the 2006 scheme would be the pension available to buy back into.

Officers who opted out before 1 April 2015 from the 1987 scheme would not be able to opt back into the 1987 scheme but would have to enter the 2006 scheme.

Contingent Decisions – Opt Out Buy Backs

The buy backs are still paused and PFEW has asked the Home Office for an update on when this is going to be resolved.

For a quick recap the issue is which pension can 1987 legacy members opt back into as the legislation suggests it should be 2006 which obviously does not put members back to the position, they would have been but for the discrimination.

PFEW will update members as soon as we get an update.

On the contingent decision front members who made decisions regarding part-time, maternity leave buy back and career breaks due to remedy are not covered by the contingent decision process.

PFEW has raised this with the Home Office. There are other issues with maternity leave buy back, part-time hours and the transfer of data between forces.

Detective Superintendent Frankie Westoby has kindly produced the form in the below link.

If you are having any issues as above then please complete the form and we will collate the issues and use the data to challenge the necessary stakeholders.

Police Pensions - Maternity, Parental and Part Time Issues (office.com)

One of the four contingent decision provisions was the ability to apply to buy back service if a member had opted out of the pension scheme due to the remedy.

That provision has been paused as the Home Office do not feel the legislation as drafted allows for members to buy back into the 1987 scheme and that the 2006 scheme would be the pension available to buy back into.

This is concerning and PFEW have been informed that the Home Office is in dialogue with HM Treasury in order to resolve the issue. The NPCC have stressed that the current pause is not an endorsement of the position that members should return to the 2006 scheme. It is because they are working hard for the position to remain that a contingent decision should return the member to the 1987 scheme.

PFEW hope that the work does lead to the 1987 pension being the return option but we will continue to monitor the situation and we will assess the options once the position is clearer.

Forces should now have guidance for contingent decisions on opt outs, purchasing additional service in the legacy schemes, transfers and honoraria. There is general guidance for all four contingent decision provisions on the NPCC website.

Member Remedy Documentation - policepensioninfo.co.uk

Officers who opted out before 1 April 2015 from the 1987 scheme would not be able to opt back into the 1987 scheme but would have to enter the 2006 scheme. PFEW are taking legal advice regarding this.

Officers can apply to purchase additional service in the Legacy Schemes. They will need to fit the criteria of the scheme. For instance, in the 1987 scheme the option was only available to officers who could not reach 30 years’ service by 55 (or 60 for County Inspectors and above).

There will also be the ability for officers to apply to transfer a pension into the legacy scheme under the contingent decision provisions.

Officers who are interested in purchasing additional service or any of the contingent decision provisions should contact the department within their Force who are dealing with the remedy.

• Added Pension

Officers who made added pension contributions to the 2015 scheme during the remedy period will receive a refund of those contributions when they are returned to their legacy scheme along with interest. PFEW argued against this approach during the consultation but the Government chose the refund option. If you are affected by this then contact your Force remedy team.

PFEW has taken legal advice around the Government’s position and there was no viable avenue for challenge.

The process that Forces should follow is detailed here: NPCC-Member-Remedy-Factsheet-Added-Pension-Compensation-Amounts.pdf (policepensioninfo.co.uk)

• Pension Transfers during the Remedy Period

Officers who transferred in pensions during the remedy period to the 2015 scheme  will revert to the legacy scheme will see those pensions transferred into legacy scheme benefits.