Calls for the Government to review 30-Plus Scheme

A chief constable has called for the Government to review the 30 Plus Scheme in order to retain skilled officers in the service.

The 30-Plus Scheme allows officers of pensionable age to retire, collect a lump sum from their pension, take a least a day off, then return to work for the same salary. It was originally given approval by HM Treasury to run until March 31, 2010, under the condition that its effectiveness and use was to be reviewed in 2008. The NPIA became responsible for centrally administering the 30-Plus retention scheme and for offering assistance and advice on best practice to forces.

Chief Constable Julie Spence of Cambridgeshire Police made the call after seven forces had already suspended or withdrawn the scheme, including Greater Manchester, Humberside, Lincolnshire, Merseyside, Norfolk, North Yorkshire and South Wales Police.

Ms Spence said that officers would generally be better off working in the private sector after their retirement, and that many officers do not have an incentive to stay because of the amount they are paying into their pension contributions.

Areas that the Government should look into, according to Ms Spence, include making it easier for officers to take a gap year before returning to work and what it could do to retain female officers who leave the service to have a family but who returned later in life.

According to a survey of the scheme in 2007 (using figures as at February 2007), the NPIA found that:

•Nearly 1,200 officers were retained on the 30-Plus scheme, half of whom joined the scheme within the previous 12 months.

•In the previous 12 month period, the number of officers eligible to apply to the scheme fell from a quarter to a fifth, whilst the number of applications rejected increased from seven per cent to nine per cent, meaning that proportionally fewer officers were admitted to the scheme.

•Scheme administrators within the forces were convinced that the scheme was fulfilling its purpose of retaining skilled officers who would have otherwise left.

•Analysis of the survey results showed that the number of officers becoming eligible to join the scheme would increase, predicting that in 2007/8 there would be an additional 2,785 officers eligible, 3,586 in 2008/9 and 4,110 in 2009/10.

•The report warned that demand for the scheme may rise, but that the operational need for the scheme may decrease; it also recommended that forces concentrate on their requirements for skill retention as opposed to potential popularity of the scheme.

The survey also found that the use of the scheme varies between forces, some forces being very supportive of the scheme, others not so.

“In Scotland,” the survey reported, “Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill had voiced his full support of the scheme, stating that the Scottish Government will be working with chief constables and police boards to improve the retention of officers. He commented that the scheme offers the opportunity to retain officers, who have a wealth of experience and knowledge that cannot be gained in a training college, to continue to serve their communities.”