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27 Nov 2006 : Column 399W—continued

Pensions

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what the (a) present and (b) future retirement age arrangements are for each public sector pension scheme for which his Department has responsibility; and if he will make a statement; [102088]

(2) what the current (a) accrual rate and (b) normal retirement age is for each public sector pension scheme for which his Department is responsible; and if he will make a statement. [102092]

Mr. McNulty: Under the Police Pension Scheme 1987, to which most officers belong, there is no fixed retirement age for the police. Officers with at least 25 years' service may retire with an immediate pension from age 50. Officers may also retire with an immediate pension, irrespective of age, after 30 years' service, when they will have accrued maximum benefits. This means that an officer who joined at age 18Â1/2—the earliest age at which it is possible to start as a police officer—is entitled to retire at age 48Â1/2 with a full pension. Otherwise officers become eligible to retire with an immediate pension from the age of 55, 57 or 60 depending on what their compulsory retirement age would have been for their rank and force before such ages were revised with effect from 1 October this year. Officers with less than 25 years' service who leave the police with deferred benefits will receive their pension at age 60.

The accrual rate under the Police Pension Scheme 1987 is one sixtieth of final salary for each year during the first 20 years and two sixtieths for each of the next 10 years, providing a target pension of two thirds of final salary, if no lump sum is taken, after 30 years.

Members of the Police Pension Scheme 2006, which applies to those who have joined the police service on or after 6 April this year, have a set pension age of 55 at or after which a serving officer can leave with an immediate pension irrespective of his or her length of service. Officers who leave the police service below the age of 55 with deferred benefits will receive their pension at age 65.

The accrual rate under the Police Pension Scheme 2006 is one seventieth of final salary for each year providing a target pension of one half of final salary, plus a fixed lump sum of twice final salary, after 35 years.

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate he has made of the (a) rate and (b) annual cost of employer contributions to each public sector pension scheme for which his Department has responsibility; and if he will make a statement. [102089]

Mr. McNulty: The system for funding police pensions changed as of 1 April 2006. Under the new system, the cost of pensions in payment has been removed from police authorities' operating accounts. Police authorities now operate a separate pensions account for this purpose, into which are paid officers' contributions and a new employer's contribution. Any
27 Nov 2006 : Column 400W
deficit is topped up with a grant from central Government; any surplus is recouped.

The new employer's contribution, which is common to both old and new police pension schemes, is set at 24.6 per cent. of an officer's pensionable pay. In addition to this the police authority will pay into the pensions account a charge of twice the officer's average pensionable pay for any officer who retires early on ill-health grounds. We estimate the annual cost of employer contributions (not including ill-health retirement charges) at £1,095 million.

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his most recent estimate is of the unfunded liability, in present value terms, of each public sector pension scheme for which his Department is responsible; and on what assumptions of (a) discount rate and (b) longevity the estimate is based. [102091]

Mr. McNulty: The latest available information is in the note on unfunded liabilities placed in Library by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 2 March 2006, which gives a combined figure for the police and fire service pension schemes of £85 billion.

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the potential for savings to his Department of the reforms to public sector pensions agreed with trades unions in 2005 for each year between 2006-07 and 2050-51; and if he will make a statement. [102093]

Mr. McNulty: It is not possible to provide an exact estimate at this point as the full savings will only be realised once all police officers are in the New Police Pension Scheme introduced in 2006, which will take in the region of 30 years. The estimated savings from the new scheme after 30 years on the basis of today’s costs will be approximately £300 million per annum in England and Wales.

Police

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the (a) actual and (b) percentage increase was in the police precept for each police authority area in each of the last 10 years; and what the actual and percentage increase in the police precept was in each area over the 10 year period ranked in descending order of percentage increase. [100722]

Mr. McNulty [holding answer 20 November 2006]: The information is set out in tables, which have been placed in the Library.

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers per 1,000 of the population there are in each police force in England. [100948]

John Reid: Table 4 within the Police Service Strength bulletin for 31 March 2006 (Home Office Statistical Bulletin13/06) contains the most recent information per 100,000 of the population and these data are also given in the tables. The most recent Police Service Strength bulletin can be downloaded from:


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Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the police precepts were for police authorities in England and Wales in each of the last five years listed in descending order. [100963]

Mr. McNulty: The information is set out in the tables.

Police precepts (Band D) on council tax by police authority in descending order 2002-03 to 2006-07 2002-03
2002-03
Force Precept (Band D)

Metropolitan

130.59

Northamptonshire

105.25

West Mercia

104.50

Dorset

103.50

Warwickshire

101.78

Staffordshire

100.93

Cumbria

100.48

Norfolk

100.35

Dyfed-Powys

98.10

North Wales

96.53

Surrey

96.44

Cleveland

96.13

Humberside

95.40

Leicestershire

95.21

Gwent

95.17

Lincolnshire

94.86

Merseyside

94.76

Cambridgeshire

94.59

Gloucestershire

94.01

Derbyshire

91.96

Wiltshire

91.54

South Wales

89.85

North Yorkshire

88.59

Nottinghamshire

85.17

Avon and Somerset

83.40

Suffolk

82.08

Hertfordshire

81.01

Bedfordshire

78.69

Essex

77.67

West Yorkshire

75.92

Hampshire

75.15

South Yorkshire

74.09

Lancashire

73.86

Devon and Cornwall

73.80

Kent

73.64

Cheshire

73.54

Thames Valley

73.49

Sussex

69.84

Greater Manchester

68.86

Durham

64.44

West Midlands

61.88

Northumbria

58.15



27 Nov 2006 : Column 402W
2003-04
Force Precept (Band D)

Metropolitan

159.13

North Yorkshire

156.00

Gloucestershire

142.59

Surrey

135.09

Cumbria

130.71

Northamptonshire

130.09

North Wales

126.94

Staffordshire

126.50

Dyfed-Powys

124.11

Dorset

123.39

Norfolk

121.95

Cleveland

120.22

West Mercia

119.80

Gwent

119.11

Warwickshire

117.30

Cambridgeshire

113.31

Humberside

113.04

Derbyshire

111.77

Avon and Somerset

111.64

Wiltshire

109.68

Suffolk

109.35

Nottinghamshire

109.30

Thames Valley

106.24

Leicestershire

104.77

Lincolnshire

104.40

South Wales

103.51

Devon and Cornwall

103.27

Merseyside

101.54

Hertfordshire

98.28

Sussex

97.74

Hampshire

97.29

Kent

94.95

South Yorkshire

94.30

Bedfordshire

93.44

Essex

92.97

Greater Manchester

91.65

West Yorkshire

88.81

Cheshire

88.10

Lancashire

87.57

Durham

79.56

West Midlands

71.16

Northumbria

63.80


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