9:00am Saturday 28th November 2009
A POLICE pensions shortfall in Hampshire has been plugged by taxpayers to the tune of almost £20m this year.
Records reveal the amount of cash required to fill the black hole in the force’s struggling fund has risen by more than 170 per cent in two years.
Home Office figures show the department paid a grant of £19.9m to cover the gap in Hampshire Constabulary’s pension scheme in 2008/9 – up from £7.3m in 2006/7.
Nationally, the additional contributions to police pensions more than doubled between 2006/7 and 2008/9, rising from £201m to £482m last year.
The Liberal Democrats, who uncovered the figures, claimed the “top-up tax” was equivalent to an extra £20 for every household in Britain.
Lord Oakeshott, the party’s Treasury spokesman, called on the Government to set up an independent review into public sector pension costs “to make them fair and affordable for public and private sector workers”.
He added: “We have paid twice for police pensions in the past three years – first through council tax and then through income tax too.
“Getting a grip on ballooning public sector pension costs will be the acid test of any Government’s credibility and the Government’s shaky credit rating over the next five years.
“You don’t slash and burn when Britain’s in deep recession but you must start closing our unfair public-private pensions divide and stop turning a blind eye to the spiralling pension cost of delivering essential public services.”
Rob Garnham, chairman of the Association of Police Authorities, said the Home Office top-ups “recognise the scale of the problem, one that applies across the wider public sector”.
Policing Minister David Hanson said: “Entitlement to a police pension is a key element of the remuneration of police officers to enable them to undertake their role with confidence, and in recognition of the demanding nature of police work.
“The Government recognises the need to ensure that the costs of public sector pensions are controlled and has put measures in place to tackle factors such as the costs of increasing longevity.
“Increased payments, reflecting actuarial advice, were introduced as the result of a decision of the Administrative Court at judicial review.”
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