Nuclear officers can’t retire at 60 as they are ‘not members of a police service’, rules court

A High Court ruling that Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) officers are not members of a police service – denying them the right to retire at 60 – has been branded “unreasonable, morally indefensible and cynical”.

The Civil Nuclear Police Federation (CNPF) lost its court case on Wednesday (August 31) to grant its members the same retirement rights as officers in other forces.

The CNPF had been fighting to overturn legislation that means for the purposes of pensions, CNC officers are not technically police, and so will be affected by increases in retirement age in any other public sector.

As a result of Wednesday’s ruling, CNC officers could be forced to work until they are 65, or even 68, while their colleagues can retire at 60.

The CNPF’s chief concern was that its members will struggle to keep up with minimum fitness standards for policing – which it claims is dangerous given the fact that all of them are routinely armed and are relied on to support territorial forces.

CNPF Chief Executive Nigel Dennis has demanded that the Energy Minister now intervene.

He said: “This decision, although now deemed correct in law, leaves all the defending parties including Government with a major headache. It should be self evident that the retirement age for any employment group should be set within realistic reach of the employee.

“The simple fact is that for Government to insist on a retirement age that our officers have little or no hope of reaching would be unreasonable, morally indefensible and cynical.

“The irony is that the chief constable, the Civil Nuclear Police Authority and the College of Policing who set the professional standards, all agree that operationally there are good grounds for retiring our officers at 60. This is not a matter of sentimentality or goodwill on their part.

“Retirement at 60 is based on their objective knowledge of what is the physical limit for officers pursuing a lifetime career as highly trained weapons and fitness specialists.”

Chief Constable Mike Griffiths added: “In light of this ruling, we will now continue to develop new pension arrangements for CNC officers, in accordance with the Public Service Pensions Act 2013, and working closely with relevant government departments, the CNPF and other representative bodies.

“It remains the CNPA and my stated position that the retirement age of our officers should be aligned to their Home Office colleagues.”