ACPO (Association of Chief Police Officer) terms and conditions - compulsory retirement ages update

Report: 9
Date: 21 February 2008
By: the Chief Executive

Summary

In the light of the age discrimination legislation that came into effect on 1 October, the Home Office amended the compulsory retirement ages (CRA) for all police officers. The CRA for all ACPO ranks is 65. This report deals with the implications for Commanders.

A. Recommendations

That members note the changes in respect of ACPO ranks.

B. Supporting information

1. The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 (the Regulations) came into force on 1 October 2006. These Regulations made it unlawful to discriminate on the basis of age in employment. Although the Regulations did not apply specifically to police officers, they will be followed in spirit. The Police Pensions Act 1976 empowers the Secretary of State to set compulsory retirement ages (CRAs) for members of police forces. CRAs of 65 have been set for all ACPO ranks, but with added the flexibility to extend service for an unlimited period at the discretion of the police authority. The Association of Police Authorities (APA) did not support the changes.

2. None of these changes affects the ability of any police officer to retire with a full pension upon reaching 30 years’ service. In the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), whilst Deputy Assistant Commissioners (DACs) and above have five year fixed term appointments (FTAs), Commanders do not have FTAs. The previous practice was that each commander’s appointment was reviewable at the point when he or she had 30 or more years’ pensionable service and had reached the age of 55, to determine if continuing service was in the interests of the service. Thereafter service would be reviewed on an annual basis by the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA). Since the new Regulations were enacted, no Commander has reached this stage.

3. The Police Pensions and Retirement Policy Section of the Home Office have now stated that, given the new CRA, there is no requirement to review the service of Commanders until they reach age 65. If a Commander is extended beyond the new CRA, then any review or monitoring as part of the extension will remain at the police authority’s discretion, which could obviously include annual reviews The provisions of the Police Performance Regulations or Police Efficiency Regulations will continue to apply to commanders throughout the period of their FTAs

4. This change will need to be incorporated into ACPO rank officers’ terms and conditions.

C. Race and equality impact

The changes are clearly as a result of age equality legislation. The Authority welcomes the equalisation of normal retirement ages, now described as CRAs. The Home Office have produced a legal justification for the proposed changes and this is attached at Appendix 1.

D. Financial implications

There are no significant financial implications since CRAs previously existed for ACPO rank police officers and did not create any particular financial issues. If an officer chose to take advantage of these new provisions, there would potentially be financial implications for Commanders at the top of the scale ‘covering’ a post that could be filled by a Commander at the first point of the scale. For all other ACPO ranks, a spot salary is paid regardless of length of service in the role.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author: Alan Johnson, Policy Officer, Human Resources.

For more information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

Appendix 1

COMPULSORY RETIREMENT AGE (CRA) OBJECTIVE JUSTIFICATION

1. This report sets out the objective justification for the new compulsory retirement ages (CRAs) for ACPO ranks.

2. The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 (the Regulations) will come into force on 1 October 2006. These Regulations will govern direct and indirect discrimination on the grounds of age.

3. The Regulations contain provision making it unlawful for an employer, in relation to a person whom he employs at an establishment in Great Britain, to discriminate against that person by dismissing him. For this purpose, the holding of the office of constable is treated as employment (a) by the chief officer of police as respects any act done by him in relation to a constable or that office (b) by the police authority as respects any act done by it in relation to a constable or that office.

4. The Regulations establish a default retirement age of 65 for employees, but this provision does not apply to police officers and other office holders. A compulsory retirement age for police officers must therefore be objectively justified i.e. it must be a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. Otherwise, it may be a form of direct discrimination. This applies whether the compulsory retirement age is 65, lower than 65 or higher than 65.

5. The primary aim of the police service, as identified in ‘Building Communities, Beating Crime’, is to ‘Prevent, reduce and detect crime to provide safety and security for law-abiding citizens and their families.’ To achieve this primary aim, the service has various legitimate aims against which any CRA should be objectively justified.

6. The generality of work in the ACPO ranks is less directly operational and confrontational. Typically, these officers have more structured hours, although they too can be on-call, and therefore involve less physical exertion.

7. Police officers are part of an organisation that requires effective workforce planning if it is to operate effectively and develop the managers of the future as well as retaining highly skilled and experienced officers. This indicates the need for a CRA consistent with other management posts i.e. the default retirement age of 65. A CRA of lower than 65 for ACPO Ranks could deprive the service of valuable experience. Although a CRA of higher than 65 for these officers would encourage the retention of highly skilled and experienced officers, it would similarly restrict development and promotion opportunities for others. A CRA of 65 for ACPO Ranks can therefore be most effectively justified as it optimises the balance between the above workforce planning requirements.

8. The Home Office, after consulting with the PNB, believes there is a need for two levels of compulsory retirement ages, linked to rank, which would enable the complex and dynamic business of policing to be delivered, now and in the future.

9. The new CRA of 65 for ACPO Ranks is proportionate to the following legitimate aims (as detailed above):

• Facilitating workforce planning and modernisation; and
• Encouraging diversity in the service through recruitment and retention

Despite revising the CRAs we will retain current pension ages. This means that the age at which an officer can retire with an immediate pension will not be affected.

10. The new CRAs give due consideration to advances in health and life expectancy while recognising the changing nature of policing for all officers as a result of societal changes and the workforce modernisation agenda. They also give appropriate consideration to the different CRAs within the police force. The new CRAs will meet the following legitimate aims:

• Providing operational resilience;
• Ensuring health, welfare and safety;
• Ensuring public safety and assurance;
• Facilitation of workforce planning and modernisation; and
• Encouraging diversity in the service through recruitment and retention

The systems of CRAs outlined above for police officers are proportionate to the above aims and can therefore be objectively justified under the Regulations.

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