APCC Chair, Mark Burns-Williamson writes directly to the Chancellor about the significant impact of the unfunded police pension changes

23/10/2018

A letter has been sent to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the RT Hon Philip Hammond MP, on behalf of Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) raising concerns about the huge impact of the recent announcements around employer pension contributions for Policing.

Commenting on the letter, Mr Burns-Williamson said:

“As Chair of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, I feel I have no option but to put pen to paper following our general meeting to raise concerns on behalf of all PCCs about this unexpected announcement. This will put a detrimental hole in policing funding, undermining budget planning by PCCs and Chiefs which we have undertaken following our two-year agreement with the Home Office for this year and next, including plans to recruit more officers.

“Whilst we want to see police officers receive fair pensions, this change affects employers’ contributions only and will have a detrimental impact on our ability to recruit.

“This announcement from the Treasury comes at a time when Policing continues to be under huge pressure, tackling demands around serious and violent crime. The bottom line is that the additional monies raised by PCCs through the £12 extra on the Police Council Tax will be all but wiped out to pay for this, therefore seeing little or no growth in policing numbers.

“There was unanimous agreement that we as an APCC need to urgently raise this at the very highest levels in Government to seek an immediate resolution and for common sense to prevail. We know the public want to see more investment in policing.”

The letter to the Chancellor can be read in full by clicking here.

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