Forfeiture of police pensions
This Circular draws attention to the legislation and provides guidance on the procedures relating to the forfeiture of police pensions.
This Circular draws attention to the legislation and provides guidance on the procedures relating to the forfeiture of police pensions.
Regulation K5 of the Police Pensions Regulations 1987 relates to the forfeiture of police pensions.
Under this regulation, a police authority may determine that a pension be forfeited, in whole or in part and permanently or temporarily as they may specify, if the pensioner has been convicted of an offence of treason or one or more offences under the Official Secrets Acts 1911 to 1939 and has been sentenced on the same occasion to a term of imprisonment of, or to two or more consecutive terms amounting in the aggregate to, at least ten years.
In addition, a police authority can determine forfeiture where a member of a police force has been convicted of an offence, committed in connection with his/her service as a member of a police force, which is certified by the Secretary of State either to have been gravely injurious to the interests of the State or to be liable to lead to serious loss of confidence in the public service.
The Circular highlights that:
- The term pensioner should be taken to include a person who is still a member of his force at the time of conviction.
- The courts have ruled that the pensioner need not have been a serving officer at the time of the offence in order to meet the requirement that it must be connected with his/her service. For instance, the offence may have been committed after the pensioner retired but he or she may have used police knowledge or police systems or police contacts in the commission of the offence.
In making the decision on whether to certify, the Secretary of State will attach a greater weight to the words “serious loss of confidence in the public service” than the harm inevitably caused by any police officer or former police officer who commits a crime, and will take into account:
- The seriousness with which the court viewed the offence (as demonstrated by the punishment imposed and the sentencing remarks).
- The circumstances surrounding the offence and investigation.
- The seniority of the officer or former officer (the more senior, the greater the loss of credibility and confidence).
- The extent of publicity and media coverage.
- Whether the offence involved: an organised conspiracy amongst a number of officers, active support for criminals, the perversion of the course of public justice, the betrayal of an important position of trust for personal gain, and/or the corruption or attempted corruption of junior officers.
Regulation H5 of the Police Pensions Regulations provides a right of appeal to the Crown Court against the police authoritys role in the decision to forfeit the pension. Regulation H6 provides a right of appeal to a tribunal appointed by the Secretary of State, as police authority, if the pensioner was a central police officer.
The Circular can be found in full at http://www.circulars.homeoffice.gov.uk
The Police Pensions Regulations 1987 can be found at http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1987/Uksi_19870257_en_1.htm