Ulster Unionist Policing Board member, Ross Hussey MLA, has called on the Department of Justice to instruct the Policing Board to remove guidance which could be used to reduce the injury pensions of police officers. The guidance is currently suspended pending a review. A High Court order has quashed guidance issued by the Home Office which has been used to reduce the injury pensions of police officers throughout the United Kingdom.
Mr Hussey said:
“An injury that has left someone with a permanent condition does not 'go away' when you reach 65. It is clear from the High Court decision that the instructions were wrong and all pensions that were erroneously reviewed should now be reinstated. Police officers that were injured as a result of their service have a right to be treated with respect. Age should never have been a factor to take into consideration when a pension was to be reviewed.
“We owe a debt to those that served in the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC and the Police Service of Northern Ireland and this money pinching review was unnecessary and left many older police officers throughout the UK facing financial hardship.
“When you see in recent days that 187 terror suspects can be treated in a manner that suggests they were above the law the clear disparity between the treatment of those that worked for peace and those that terrorised the community, it leaves some questioning why they bothered. A change to correct this major wrong would be one small step in the right direction.”