NEW rules to close a legal loophole which denied the widows and widowers of police officers killed in the line of duty a pension if they subsequently remarried or moved in with a new partner have been welcomed.

The changes to the 1987 police pensions scheme followed a high-profile national campaign to allow lifelong pensions no matter the marriage status of the surviving partner, which received strong support from Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner Ron Ball.

The new rules came into force this week and follow a similar move in Northern Ireland, which in 2014 reinstated pensions for widows and widowers whose spouses died in service from January 1, 1989. The Scottish Assembly has indicated that it too will reinstate such pensions.

However, the new arrangements in England and Wales will only apply to those who remarried on or after April 1, 2015. Any pensions previously surrendered prior to this date will not be reinstated. Members of the later 2006 police pension scheme already benefit from life-long pensions for widows and widowers.

Mr Ball has been a strong backer of the campaign for a change and welcomed the reforms to the 1987 scheme.

He said: “I gave strong support to the calls for the rules to be reviewed by the Home Office and am delighted that these changes are now being implemented. It cannot be right that the families of officers killed in the line of duty should be unfairly penalised by being denied a pension simply because of a legal formality.

“But while the changes will apply to any new widows or widowers, I am disappointed that a pension for life is still not the right for anyone who lost a husband, wife or partner and subsequently remarried prior to April 1 last year if their spouse was a member of the older pension scheme. This cannot be right; these are officers who have paid the ultimate price in the line of duty and ensuring their families have the pension they have contributed towards is really the very least we should be doing for their sacrifice.

“It also seems particularly unfair given that anyone who had divorced a police officer subsequently killed in the line of duty and who had been awarded a portion of the pension in the divorce settlement will be able to keep it for life, regardless of whether they move in with a new partner.

“So while these changes to the pension regulations are a great step forward, I believe there is still more that the government can and should do to ensure everyone enjoys the same rights and benefits.”