Civil Nuclear Police Federation v Civil Nuclear Police Authority

The expression “members of a police force” in section 10(2)(b) of the Public Service Pensions Act 2013 has its statutory meaning. Read with section 5 and Schedule 1 of the Interpretation Act 1978, it refers to Home Office territorial police forces and the Police Service of Scotland. It does not include the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, which is a specialist force established under separate legislation. No contrary intention appears in the 2013 Act. The similar wording in sections 1(2)(g) and 10(2)(b), the statutory pension scheme structure, and the specific treatment of the Ministry of Defence Police reinforce that conclusion. Policy arguments about the appropriate retirement age cannot displace the statutory language.

The claimant sought judicial review of the defendant’s interpretation of section 10 of the Public Service Pensions Act 2013. The issue was whether members of the Civil Nuclear Constabulary were “members of a police force” within section 10(2)(b), so that a pension scheme made under or in accordance with the Act had to provide a normal pension age of 60.

The claimant relied on the Constabulary’s policing functions, operational similarities with territorial forces and the policy underlying pension arrangements for uniformed services. The defendant and the interested party contended that section 10(2)(b) was confined to territorial police forces in England and Wales and the Police Service of Scotland. The central question was one of statutory interpretation.

1. The application was dismissed. Members of the Civil Nuclear Constabulary are not “members of a police force” for the purposes of section 10(2)(b) of the Public Service Pensions Act 2013.
2. Section 5 of the Interpretation Act 1978 requires expressions listed in Schedule 1 to be construed according to that Schedule unless a contrary intention appears. “Police force” is an expression relating to the police. The relevant definition derives from section 101(1) of the Police Act 1996, under which it means a force maintained by a local policing body. The Constabulary is maintained by the Civil Nuclear Police Authority and therefore falls outside that definition.
3. The Interpretation Act definitions apply throughout the United Kingdom. Schedule 1 also provides the relevant Scottish definition, referring to the Police Service of Scotland. The Constabulary’s operation in England, Wales and Scotland did not place it outside those provisions.
4. No contrary intention appears in the 2013 Act. Sections 1(2)(g), 1(3) and 37, together with Schedule 1, use materially equivalent language. The Act’s treatment of territorial police pension schemes, the separate treatment of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority scheme, and section 36’s review concerning the Ministry of Defence Police reinforce the distinction between territorial and specialist forces.
5. The fact that section 30 applies section 10 to new public body pension schemes does not enlarge the section 10(2)(b) exception. It applies subject to the statutory exclusions. The Constabulary’s operational characteristics and the policy desirability of a retirement age of 60 could not overcome the statutory meaning.