Hi folks,
As we will be going to the polls on December 12th I have been waiting for the publication of manifestos by the major political parties; as they have yet to be forthcoming, I have decided not to wait any longer to post this petition update.
I thought newbies to our team may appreciate some suggested talking points should local parliamentary candidates appear on their doorstep swathed in scarves and wooly jumpers.
This is the ideal opportunity to tell them about the campaign as they will have come to you, and I’m sure they will be thrilled to find that you can’t wait to speak to them.
It may not be a long conversation so in addition to your personal story it is important for them to understand the objective of our campaign; we have support from across the house, however the government has still not delivered parity with the RUC ladies of Northern Ireland and lifelong pensions for all police widows.
It is likely that you will have to explain the 1987 police pension regulations that overshadow us; pensions cease to be payable where the widow, widower or civil partner remarries or cohabits with a partner.
If you are talking to your incumbent MP it may be useful to know if he or she signed the most recent EDM, you can find out in advance by following this link:
https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/52879/police-widows-and-widowers-pension-equality
Not all MPs are allowed to sign EDMs and some choose not to; they are as far as I’m concerned, a public declaration that an MP supports our cause.
At this point you can provide statistics:
There are 22,000 police widows in receipt of a pension – we therefore represent 22,000 potential votes for the party we feel is most likely to grant us parity with Northern Ireland.
NARPO (National Association of Retired Police Officers) has 91,000 members - NARPO is 100% committed to campaigning for equality between the widows of all forces throughout the UK.
Our husbands paid 11% of their wages into the pension scheme and they were taxpayers.
The average age of a police widow is 72; there are people in their 70s and 80s who wish to remarry or move in with a partner and the older they get the harder it becomes to maintain long distance relationships.
If asked about costs - the cost of lifelong pensions for police widows currently in receipt of a pension is estimated to be £144m over 30 years.
The estimated cost of the reinstatement of revoked pensions is £54m over a period of 15 years.
In a political climate where sums of billions and trillions of pounds are being promised with gay abandon by some parties, our requirements are by comparison far more modest.
The current Prime Minister has repeatedly reiterated the Conservative party’s intention to preside over, “One United Kingdom.” Clearly this does not include police officers and their widows.
Within the United Kingdom there are a several tiers of regulations pertaining to police widows’ pensions:
RUC widows in Northern Ireland receive their pensions for life.
As a result of our campaign - in England and Wales widows now receive their pensions for life if their spouse was in the 1987 scheme and was; killed on duty, died of injuries sustained on duty, killed travelling to or from work or was killed because they were recognised as a police officer.
In Scotland, the same regulations apply, however they have gone one step further and reinstated pensions revoked due to remarriage or cohabitation.
The 2006 and subsequent police pension schemes include surviving spouses, civil partners and unmarried partners, and all survivor pensions are payable for life.
Home Secretary Priti Patel says that she wants to care for police families; however, below is the latest missive from the Home Office that confirms the current government position:
“…. The 1987 Police Pension Scheme provides a pension for the widow, widower or civil partner of a police officer who dies. In common with most other public service pension schemes of that time, these benefits cease to be payable where the widow, widower or civil partner remarries or cohabits with another partner. The 1987 Police Pension Scheme has been amended to allow widows, widowers and civil partners of police officers who have died as a result of an injury on duty and who qualify for or are in receipt of a survivor pension on or after (I think this should actually say, “on or before” to make sense)1 April 2015 to continue to receive their survivor benefits for life regardless of remarriage, civil partnership or cohabitation.
…. It may help if I set out what the police pension scheme does. A defined benefit pension scheme, like the police pension scheme, guarantees that it will pay benefits in defined circumstances. However, there is no guarantee that a member will receive any level of benefit above their own contributions to the scheme. To that extent, employer contributions to the scheme are pooled to provide benefits to the membership as a whole. The likelihood of different experiences (e.g. being unmarried, having dependent children) is factored into the costings of the pension scheme. There is no individual fund associated with each member.
Successive governments have maintained a general presumption against making retrospective changes to public service pension schemes and that has not changed. This was a specific change for a specific group of survivors and the bar for making these changes is set high, given the challenges of doing so. The Government accepted that the arguments for making this change in respect of police officers who died on duty were sufficiently compelling to allow a limited exception in this case….”
Email: Public.Enquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk
Labour MP Holly Lynch has been a long time staunch supporter of the campaign, but her party is not currently in a position to make the changes.
I will be explaining to our local parliamentary candidates and incumbent MP, that I shall be voting for the party that I believe will be faithful to our objective and will grant us parity with RUC widows in Northern Ireland and lifelong pensions for all police widows.
This is a complex campaign – I do not expect you to make all the above points in one conversation with your local parliamentary candidates; what is important is to introduce them to our campaign and gain their support.
Best wishes always,
Cathryn
CathrynHall11@gmail.com