Overview

When the police pension scheme 2015 was introduced some members, closest to their normal pension age, were given ‘protection’ and remained in their legacy scheme after April 2015 (either the police pension scheme 1987 or the police pension scheme 2006). 

• Members who were fully protected remained in their legacy scheme (either 1987 or 2006)
• Members who were unprotected moved to the police pension scheme 2015 on 1 April 2015
• Members who were tapered protected moved to the police pension scheme 2015 at some point between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022

The period from 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022 is now known as the ‘remedy period’.

After a legal challenge, the courts determined that these protections were age discriminatory and not fair to all members i.e. younger members in the scheme were missing out on additional years of benefits from the legacy pension schemes. 

New rules were put in place from 1 October 2023 which mean that eligible members can choose the benefits they receive for the remedy period, from either:

• Legacy scheme which they were a member of before 2015 (either the police pension scheme 1987 or the police pension scheme 2006)
• Reformed scheme (the police pension scheme 2015)

The new rules created two different categories of members. These were based on whether benefits were already in payment or not on 30 September 2023.

• Immediate choice members – either a pensioner member or a beneficiary member on 30 September 2023. These members had taken scheme benefits after April 2015 without making a choice
• Deferred choice members – either an active member or a deferred member on 30 September 2023. These members are given a choice of benefits at retirement

The options are only applicable to members that: 

• have been in pensionable service on or before 31 March 2012; and
• had pensionable service between 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022; and 
• do not have a gap in service of five years or more (known as a disqualifying break).

The service has to be pensionable in either the police pension scheme or another public service pension scheme. These schemes are known as ‘chapter 1 schemes’.

If you do not meet the requirements for remedy, you are not affected. This includes members who joined on or after 1 April 2012 even though they may have membership in the police pension scheme 2006.

If you are eligible, all service during the remedy period is rolled back to your legacy scheme – either the police pension scheme 1987 or, for those who joined between 6 April 2006 and 31 March 2012, the police pension scheme 2006. 

Some policing organisations are treated differently:

• British transport police are members of the railway pension scheme. As this scheme is not a public service pension scheme and was not reformed in 2015, it is not a Chapter 1 scheme and is not affected by the remedy.
• Civil nuclear constabulary and the ministry of defence police are members of a variant of the civil service pension scheme. This is a Chapter 1 scheme and is affected by the remedy.

You can read more about the eligibility for remedy in the member remedy factsheet in the resources section. 

Find out about how the introduction of remedy was handled in this paper created by NPCC in May 2024.