Question reference: S5W-06138
- Date lodged: 12 January 2017
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Current status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 January 2017
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the decision by the Prison Officers' Association in England to reject the UK Government’s offer to lower the retirement age of prison officers from 68 to 65, what discussions it is having with the UK Government to secure a retirement age of 60 for Scottish Prison Service officers.
Answer
Prison officers in Scotland are members of the UK-wide Civil Service Pension Scheme. I wrote to the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 8 July 2015 to express my concerns that prison officers are expected to continue working to State Pension Age whilst carrying out frontline operational duties.
Officials from the Scottish Government's Justice Directorate have contacted Ministry of Justice officials to seek an update following the Prison Officers Association’s recent decision in England and Wales to reject the UK Government's offer to lower the retirement age for certain prison officer grades.