A Warwickshire Police officer has been named the overall winner at this year’s national Police Bravery Awards, hosted by the Police Federation of England and Wales.

PC Andrew Dear was named the overall winner at the 24th national Police Bravery Awards in London. The awards, sponsored by Police Mutual, took place on 18 July to honour and recognise police officers who perform outstanding acts of bravery.

PC Dear was first on the scene of a serious car accident and went to help the most injured person, who was trapped between the roof of the upturned car and the road. The car was ripped in half, with the top half of the man’s body ejected though the sunroof and he was trapped with a severe head injury. The wreckage of the car was leaking fuel and there was a real risk of a major fire or explosion.

The officer scrambled into a 10-inch gap under the roof of the car, so that an airway could be maintained and to take some of the weight of the car on his back. The casualty was drifting in and out of consciousness and bleeding badly, so PC Dear constantly talked to and reassured him. There was a real risk of the fuel catching fire, but PC Dear stayed with the casualty, which allowed a paramedic to secure an IV line and stem the bleeding. PC Dear placed himself in a dangerous and life-threatening situation, refusing to leave the man and helping to save his life.

Speaking of the incident afterwards, the casualty, and why the officer did what he did, PC Dear said:

“Knowing what his family would probably be thinking had he not made it, knowing somebody was there with him when he was injured, trapped – that means everything.”

Home Secretary Sajid Javid said:

“PC Dear’s bravery is truly extraordinary and deserves to be recognised with this award.

“I pay tribute to the courage and professionalism of this country’s dedicated police officers, who put their lives on the line to keep us all safe day after day.

“All of today’s nominees and winners exemplify this selflessness and are living proof that we have the best police in the world.”

John Apter, National Chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales said:

“These awards highlight the incredible bravery that officers protecting our country show every single day. PC Dear demonstrated outstanding courage and dedication, putting the lives of others before his own without a second thought.   Without doubt his actions saved the life of another.

“As National Chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales, I am immensely proud to have shared this day with such humble and brave officers and their families.  They are a credit to the service and I am proud to call them colleagues.”

Treasury announce an industrial resolution for pensions

The Treasury yesterday laid a written statement on behalf of the government in respect of the Judges’ and Firefighters’ Pensions. The statement, which can be seen below, makes clear that the Government will apply an industrial remedy to the discrimination found by the Employment Appeal Tribunal. That means that the remedy will apply to every worker in the public sector pension schemes, including police officers.

The government is committed to providing public service pensions that are fair for public sector workers and for taxpayers. This is why we brought forward reforms in 2015, based on the recommendations of the Hutton report, to ensure that these pensions are sustainable in the future.

The courts have considered cases regarding the implementation of the 2015 reforms. On 27 June 2019 the Supreme Court denied the government permission to appeal the Court of Appeal’s judgment that transitional provisions introduced to the reformed judges and firefighters pension schemes in 2015 gave rise to unlawful age discrimination. The government respects the Court’s decision and will engage fully with the Employment Tribunal to agree how the discrimination will be remedied.

The ruling relates to the ‘transitional protection’ offered to some members when the reformed schemes were introduced. In order to ensure people close to retirement age were treated fairly, the government agreed to ‘transitional protection’, which broadly permitted those members who were closest to retirement at the time new pension schemes were introduced to remain members of their respective old schemes. The court has found that those too far away from retirement age to qualify for ‘transitional protection’ have been unfairly discriminated against. As ‘transitional protection’ was offered to members of all the main public service pension schemes, the government believes that the difference in treatment will need to be remedied across all those schemes. This includes schemes for the NHS, civil service, local government, teachers, police, armed forces, judiciary and fire and rescue workers. Continuing to resist the full implications of the judgment in Court would only add to the uncertainty experienced by members.

The matter will be remitted to the Employment Tribunal in respect of the litigants in the firefighters and judicial pension schemes. It will be for the Tribunal to determine a remedy. Alongside this process, government will be engaging with employer and member representatives, as well as the devolved administrations, to help inform our proposals to the Tribunal and in respect of the other public service pension schemes.

Initial estimates suggest remedying the discrimination will add around £4bn per annum to scheme liabilities from 2015.

The reasons for the 2015 reforms remain: that public service pensions are a significant cost for the taxpayer, now and in the future. The judgment does not alter the government’s commitment to ensuring that the cost of public service pensions are affordable for taxpayers and sustainable for the long term.