Herts Chief is ninth to take mandatory pension break
Hertfordshire’s Chief Constable Andy Prophet has signed a new five-year contract after becoming the ninth serving Chief Constable in two years to be reappointed following completion of 30 years’ pensionable service.
Historic police pension regulations require officers on the 1987 scheme to step away from their role for one calendar month upon reaching that milestone before returning.
Prophet will be absent from 14 June, with Deputy Chief Constable Andy Mariner serving as Temporary Chief Constable during the interval. Prophet returns formally on 14 July.
The reappointment comes as the 1987 scheme has attracted wider attention following a Treasury decision last month to increase the SCAPE discount rate, a move that reduced retirement lump sums for officers leaving the service by around five per cent.
Hertfordshire police and crime commissioner Jonathan Ash-Edwards was careful to stress that the timing of Prophet’s new contract is entirely unconnected to those changes, which will affect the Chief Constable in the same way as any other 1987 scheme member.
Ash-Edwards’ recommendation to reappoint was unanimously approved by the cross-party Police and Crime Panel at a confirmation hearing on 27 May. The PCC said the arrangement created no additional cost to the taxpayer.
Mr Prophet said he was pleased to continue leading “this amazing county.”