Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has plans to allow police survivors who (a) remarry and (b) cohabit after losing a spouse to retain their full pension entitlement.

With the introduction of the 2006 police pension scheme on 6 April 2006, all eligible police officers were able to join a pension scheme that provides life-long survivor benefits for spouses, civil partners and unmarried partners, including those who remarry or cohabit after losing a spouse.

Police pension schemes prior to the 2006 police pension scheme did not have life-long survivor benefits and any retrospective changes to those schemes would need to be fully costed and affordable.

There are no plans at this time to make any such changes to benefits accrued in previous schemes.