No. To make sure the transition from older schemes to the new scheme was as fair as possible the new changes affected all members of the officer pension schemes differently:
In general full protection applied if you were an officer due to retire before April 2022.
- All active 2006 scheme members who, as of 1st April 2012, had 10 years or less to their current Normal Pension Age (i.e. age 55) saw no change in when they could retire, nor any decrease in the amount of pension they receive at their current Normal Pension Age. Naturally to achieve this they should remain in their current scheme until they retire.
- All active 1987 scheme members who, as of 1st April 2012, had 10 years or less to age 55 or had 10 years or less to age 48 and were 10 years or less from being eligible for a maximum unreduced pension, saw no change in when they could retire, nor any change of pension scheme. Again, this was conditional on them remaining within their current scheme until they retire.
Tapered Protection – Police Officers
Tapered protection applies to Officers who were within 4 years of qualifying for transitional protection on 1st April, 2012. A Member who is covered by the tapered protection continued to accrue pensionable service in their current scheme for a limited period after April 2015. This was intended to avoid what would otherwise be a “cliff edge”, where a couple of days’ service would make the difference between full protection and no protection. At the end of any additional period, the Member was transferred to the new scheme.
Full Protection – Police Staff
Staff who were 10 years or less from their Normal Pension Age on 1 April 2012 were less likely to move to the new scheme. There was no change to their current pension arrangements and Normal Pension Age remained the same.
Tapered Protection – Police Staff
Unlike officers, police staff had an option – Members who were between 10 and 13.5 years from their Normal Pension Age on 1 April 2012 may have been offered the choice to move straight into the new scheme on 1 April 2015 or stay in their current scheme for a set period. This was called ‘Tapered Enrolment’. Those Members who were more than 13.5 years from Normal Pension Age on 1 April 2012 were likely to move to the new scheme straight away.
An exercise took place in October 2014 to give eligible members a choice about when they moved into alpha. Members were eligible if they:
- were a member of a public service pension scheme (including classic, classic plus, premium or nuvos (PCSPS) on 31 March 2012, or had been a member within the previous 5 years; and
- were more than 10, but less than 13.5 years away from their Normal Pension Age (NPA) in a qualifying scheme on 01 April 2012.
Eligible members should have received an ‘Options Pack’ in October 2014, which gave them more details about the decision they needed to make.
No Protection
All other employees who were not protected were transferred into the new scheme on 1 April 2015.