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Government policy requires public section pensions to be abated in certain
circumstances when a public servant is re-employed following retirement. The
purpose of abatement is to protect public funds.
This policy sets out the Force approach on abatement to ensure it follows Police
Pension guidance. It should be remembered that the decision to abate a pension is discretionary. Therefore, the Chief Constable can decide whether to abate non, part or all of the pension.
This policy should be read in conjunction with the Retire and Re-join Procedure for police officers and the frequently asked questions.
Re-employment as a police officer following retirement from the Police Pension
Scheme can have certain consequences and impact on the payment of pension.
These are primarily:
Please note, whilst this policy considers the discretionary elements available to the Chief Constable. It is not a definitive interpretation, and it is does not replace the responsibility of the individual concerned to seek their own legal or financial advice.
This policy applies to Nottinghamshire police officers who are considering or who
have been have approved under the Retire and re-join scheme.
Abatement is when a pension is reduced or stopped altogether because the pension scheme rules do not allow a member who has taken their benefits and re-joined their employment to receive more by way of their aggregate pension and pay than they received in pay immediately before taking their pension.
A test for Abatement ensures that the pension payable can be limited where the
earnings payable in the new employment exceeds a certain level. This is designed to prevent excessive cost of both the individual’s pay and pension falling to the public purse. It ensures that those who received early – sometimes enhanced – pensions have that taken into account, can protect against malpractice and generally serves to protect public funds.
Nottinghamshire Police will abate pensions but in exceptional circumstances may
consider not to abate, this will be carefully considered from a financial and equality issues.
It is the responsibility of the Police Force that is paying the pension to the
individual to assess abatement. It is the C h i e f C o n s t a b l e ’ s discretion
whether to apply abatement to an individual’s pension, but where abatement is
applicable and the pension is not reduced, Nottinghamshire Police must pay an
equivalent amount to the scheme.
Generally, it is recommended that the pension + post-retirement salary should not exceed pay at retirement.
Where it does, the excess is abated, from the recommencement of duty until the service as a police officer ends.
For example, Pc X was paid £41,000 p.a. immediately before taking their benefits. They receive a pension of £25,000 and return to employment on a salary of £41,000 so £66,000. Pc X’s pension will be abated by £25,000 p.a. (with subsequent adjustments to reflect any changes in pension and/or pay) until they leave service when their full pension is restored.
The pension only has to be liable to abatement it need not be actually abated. So, if in the above example Pc X’s pay was £16,000 so their aggregate pay and pension is £41,000, their pension will be liable to abatement but not actually reduced. Pc X will satisfy the abatement re-employment condition.
Abatement does not usually apply where a retired officer takes up other employment. However, in some cases “Inter Service Abatement” may apply. This is an HMRC policy that applies across the public service, where a new appointment is limited to people with either general or particular public service experience, or where there has been no general advertisement of the post and no formal competition for appointment.
There is no statutory basis for inter-service abatement. In practice, the individual would have to agree under the terms and conditions of services for there to be provision for the pension payable to be abated. Where this does not occur, arrangements can be made for the salary to be abated instead.
The maximum level of unabated pension that can be paid to an officer on the scheme is £500 per month, this includes any pension payment because of reduced working hours and any pension payment to compensate for the loss of Replacement Allowance. An officer cannot receive a pension of more than £500 per month when on the Retire and Re-join scheme.
Abatement will be considered by the Chief Constable, where applicable and the
decision will be communicated to the individual by People Services.
The Chief Constable’s decision is final and there is no right of appeal.
This document has been drafted to comply with the general and specific duties in the Equality Act 2010; Data Protection Act; Freedom of Information Act; European Convention of Human Rights; Employment Act 2002; Employment Relations Act 1999, the Police Pension Scheme Regulations and other legislation relevant to policing.
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PS 326:
Leave policy
Type of Document:
Policy
Version:
1.0
Registered Owner:
Claire Salter
Author/Reviewer:
Sue Sullivan
Effective Date:
October 2023
Review Date:
October 2026
Linked Documents:
PD 792 Police Officer Retire and Rejoin Scheme