Labour Government Proposes Rule Change to Strip Criminals of Public Sector Pensions
The Labour Party is advancing plans for a significant rule change that would allow the government to strip serious criminals of their taxpayer-funded public sector pensions. This legislation could potentially be made retrospective, applying to past convictions as well as future cases.
Targeting High-Profile Cases Like Wayne Couzens
Government lawyers are specifically working to prevent Wayne Couzens, the former police officer who murdered Sarah Everard, from receiving his pension from the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC). The proposed measures aim to block individuals convicted of grave offences from claiming publicly funded retirement benefits.
Doug Mullen, a legal expert from Anthony Collins law firm, commented on the broader implications: "They wouldn't do something just for Wayne Couzens, it would need to apply to others as well. Potentially they [the Government] could find themselves in this sort of situation again."
Legal Experts Weigh In on Retrospective Application
Mullen further explained the unusual nature of retrospective legislation: "I think it's the sort of offence where the public would expect forfeiture to apply and it's relatively rare to make a law retrospective, but it's not impossible."
Andrew Campbell of Doyle Clayton law firm emphasized the need for robust legal drafting: "The Government could extend legislation to cancel someone's pension when they're convicted of a serious crime and it was in the public interest to do so. For example, where payment of a publicly funded pension would offend the public conscience, as is unquestionably the case here."
Ensuring Legislation Is Watertight Against Challenges
Campbell highlighted the importance of setting a high threshold for pension forfeiture to withstand legal scrutiny: "It would be important to set the bar for cancelling a pension at an appropriately high level, as inevitably there could be legal challenges brought to forfeiting a pension, such as on the grounds of judicial review of how this power was exercised."
He added: "Care would need to be taken to ensure that the legislation was watertight and could only be used in the most serious and obvious cases, rather than, say, someone just losing their job on the grounds of gross misconduct. Particularly as this power would be introduced to be used in other cases in the future and not just for one individual."
Government Determination to Block Couzens' Pension
A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) confirmed the government's resolve: "We are absolutely determined that Wayne Couzens does not receive a Civil Nuclear Constabulary pension, and are actively working on a targeted and proportionate solution that would resolve this."
The proposed rule change represents a significant shift in how public sector pensions are handled for individuals convicted of serious crimes, with the potential for retroactive application marking a particularly contentious aspect of the legislation.
