POLICE SUPERANNUATION SCHEME.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIII, Issue 141, 15 June 1892, Page 5

POLICE SUPERANNUATION SCHEME.

A scheme of superannuation for the police is to be submitted to Parliament during the • ensuing session. The scheme has been formulated by Mr VV. Hutchison, M.H.R., after consultation with the police at Dunedin1 and -Christchurch, where the men havo pronounced, themselves unanimously in'favour of it, and it ha- also been placed before the members of the force at Auckland and Wellington, and has met with; general approval. Ib has, moreover, been submitted to the Hon R. J. Seddon, the pefence Minister, who has undertaken to carefully consider the matter. The schecae provides for thecreationofasuperannuaticnfuiiditomthe following sources :—(a) A deCiUCbiori of 5 per cent, from the pay of each -member of the force under the age of 55 j/e'afs on the Ist April, 1895, from which date ib is proposed bhabthe fund shall start, not to be drawn upon, however, till live years later; (6) the present reward fund, with the exception of a proportionate amount to be Heft for those members of'the force who do not par- j ticipate; (c) all sums thab would under j the present regulations be paid into the; reward fund ; {ii) an advance of £20,000 (in j lieu of compensation) from the Government, and such otheir sums, such aa a proportion of fines inflicted through the action of the polico, thab the Government may from time to time grant. With respect to ihe first of the ibregoing sources oub of which the fund is proposed to be created, ib is to be explained that there are ab tho presenb- time 465 men in the force under 55 years of aga, and a deduction of 5 per cent, upon their pay would represent a sum of £3,546. As to the proposal bhab tlie Government- should make an advance of £_O,GOO, ib is claimed that this., in effect, would produce a saving of £50,000- to the Government, besides relieving them of any future responsibility for retiring, allowances, inasmuch as, under the existing system, a momber retiring receives one year's pay, and, as the annua! pay of the force is upwards of £70,000, that sum is the amount of the Government's liability ab present. It ia a provision of tho scheme that no member who shall be over 55 years of age at tho time of its coming into operation shall, be allowed to participate, and further, bhat retirement from the force shall bo compulsory upon all members ab the age of 60 years, in this connection it may be explained thab in Victoria the ago for retirement is 55 years, and that in New South Wales it is 60 years, but in the latter colony the Commissioner of Police haß, in a recent memorandum, recommended a

change to 55 years. It is proposed to have the fund vested in the Public TrusteOi and administered byaßoard consisting of seven members, three to be. appointed by the Governfiierit;hiid --three elected by members of the force, the seventh to be bhe Minister io churge of the department/who should'be the president. The Board would also act as a Court of Appeal, to. which any member of the force should have the right to submit any grievance from which he considered he was suffering, and their decision would bo, final and conclusive. Coming to tho details, of theschemo, itis proposed that nn annual superannuation allowance should be granted.to any member cf the force after 20 years' service) without medical certificate of unfitness, on the following scale :—After 20 years' service, 30 per cent, of the salary drawn rib time of resignation ; after 25 years' service, 40 per ' cent. ; and after 50 years' service, 50 per cent. It is provided, however, that the member retiring may, at his option, be granted a month's pay for each year's service in lieu of any superranua;,tion annual allowance, .and. that tho former basia of payment shall be adopted in the | caee oi any member resigning, who ! shall not have served for 20 years, bub shall have completed 15 years' service. In the case of a member resigning before the completion of 15"years' service it is proposed that ho shall, after completing five years' service, be entitled to a refund, wibhoub interest, of the amount paid by him from the Ist April, 1893. Special provision i 3 made for payment'to tho widows or fKmiiies of members dying while either contributaries or beneficiaries. In ,tho evenb of the death of a member who has served lor 15 or more years, it is proposed to empower the Board to pay to the widow or family—either in a lump sum or by way of annual allowance, as may seem best—an amount nob exceeding the sum of five years'superannuation allowance calculated according to tho suggested scale, provided thatsuch allowance shall nob becaiculatod at less than the 30.per eerit.'scaie. If a superannuated member should die within five year 3of the date of his superannuation, it is provided-that his allowance may be continued to his widow or family till ib shall have been drawn for five years from the time it was first paid to such member; and the scheme proposes 'that if a member should die before, attaining is' years' service, the Board may pay. to his widow or family any' sum that they may think fit, nob exceeding one month's pay for each year's service. Dismissal from the force on the ground of misconduct shall, it is proposed, disentitle a member bo any compensation or allowance whatever, unless he shall have completed 15 years' service, and not even then unless by express resolution of the Board, who may grant such compensation as they think jusb and reasonable, not exceeding one monbh's pay for each year's service. In the event of a member of the force being compelled to iesign ab anytime through permanent injury received in the execution of his duty, it is provided thab his case shall be specially considered by the Board, who may grant such annual allowance or compensation as eeems just, having regard to,the length of service of the member and the nature of his injuries. Finally, there is provision made that any member, in receipt of superannuation allowance, shall forfeit;;his right to benefit from the fund on being convicted of any indictable or disgraceful offence. Many other schemes have from time to time been formulated, bub all previous attempts to establish a fund have . proved abortive. It is hoped, however, by the force that on the present occasion their scheme will meet with a better fate. Thoy are the only police force in the British Empire who have not got a superannuation fund, besides which b'bey are the cheapeab ' force in bhe colonies, costing only 2s ll^d per head of the population as compared with 8s 4d— the highest—in Queensland. As an addibional argument in favour of the scheme, the men point to the moderateness of their views in the respect that the contributions which it is proposed they shall make are double those made by bhe members of.the Home, "New South Wales, and Victorian forces, whereas bhe proposed superannuation allowances are smaller than those granted ie the case of the latter forces.