To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State for Policing and the Fire Service on 24 January 2018 (123402), what plans they have, if any, to amend the Police Pensions Regulations 1987 and the Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006 to equalise the support given to the widows of police officers.

There are no plans to make any further changes to survivor benefits for police pension schemes.

On 18 January 2016, the Police Pensions Regulations 1987 and the Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006 were amended to allow widows, widowers and civil partners of police officers in England and Wales who have died on duty and who qualified for a survivor pension after 1 April 2015 to continue to receive their survivors’ benefits for life.

Successive governments have been clear that we have a general presumption against making retrospective changes to public service pension schemes. However the Government believes the arguments for making a limited exception for the widows of police officers who died on duty are sufficiently compelling in this case.