Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment the Government has made of the potential merits of making changes to police pension regulations to equalise survivor benefits for people in same sex and heterosexual marriages.

In 2014, a review of Survivor Benefits in occupational pension schemes was conducted jointly by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and HM Treasury (HMT) which considered the differences in benefits provided to widows, widowers and same-sex survivors. Details can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/occupational-pension-schemes-review-of-survivor-benefits. A decision will be made in due course, and the outcome will apply to the police pension scheme.