Police pensions set to rise 3.5% in April 2027

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) published its September 2026 inflation figures at 7am on 21 October 2026. The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose by 3.5% in the 12 months to September 2026, up from 3.1% in August.

That number matters to police pensioners because public service pensions, including the 1987, 2006 and 2015 police pension schemes, rise each April in line with the September-to-September change in CPI. September 2026 CPI of 3.5% therefore sets the increase expected to be paid from April 2027. For comparison, the April 2026 increase was 3.8%, based on September 2025 CPI.

Pensions in payment for a full year: 3.5% expected

If your police pension has been in payment for at least a year by April 2027, it is set to go up by the full 3.5%. On a pension of £20,000 a year, that would be an increase of £700 a year, taking it to £20,700. Spread over 12 months, that would be about £58.33 a month more before tax.

The increase applies to the pension you are actually paid. If you commuted part of your pension for a lump sum, the increase is worked out on the reduced pension, not on what it would have been before commutation.

Retired in the last year: a part increase

If you retired during the year before April 2027, you will not get the full increase, which is expected to be 3.5%. The first increase is pro-rata: the full increase multiplied by the number of complete months your pension has been in payment, divided by 12.

For example, someone who retired on 1 October 2026 will have had six months in payment by April 2027. Their increase would be 3.5% x 6/12 = 1.75%, so a £20,000 pension is set to become £20,350 rather than £20,700. The formal order counts complete months in payment before the increase date (the rate multiplied by months divided by 12), so treat a start date close to a month boundary as provisional until the order is published.

Serving in the 2015 scheme: 4.75% expected on your built-up pension

If you are still serving, the pension you have built up in the 2015 CARE (career average) scheme is revalued each year by the change in prices plus 1.25%. With CPI at 3.5%, that is expected to make 4.75%.

On £15,000 of CARE pension built up so far, 4.75% would add £712.50. At CPI alone it would be £525. The extra 1.25% applies only while you are in service; it stops when you leave. The revaluation applies to the pension built up to the end of the previous scheme year: pension you build up during 2026/27 is revalued from April 2028.

Deferred pensions rise too

If you left the police with a deferred pension, it keeps pace with inflation in the same way, so it is also set to rise by 3.5%. For a 2015 scheme deferred pension the increase is CPI only, because the extra 1.25% ends when you leave service.

Retired before 55? Increases usually wait

Under section 3 of the Pensions (Increase) Act 1971, increases on your own-service pension are not usually paid until you reach 55. This catches officers who retired on a normal pension in their late 40s or early 50s (see can I retire at 55?). The increases are not lost: once you reach 55, your pension is paid at the level it would have reached with every increase applied. Ill-health pensions and survivors' pensions are not held back in this way.

Police staff in the LGPS

Police staff are usually in the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), not a police pension scheme. Under the Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 2013 and the annual Treasury orders, LGPS pensions are increased and built-up pension is revalued each April in line with the previous September's CPI. That covers pensions in payment, deferred pensions and the pension built up in an active member's account, so all three are expected to rise by 3.5% in April 2027. As with police pensions, people who retired during the year may get a proportion of the increase. Our LGPS and police pension comparison explains how the two schemes differ.

When is it confirmed?

The figure follows the established approach of using September CPI, which the government reviews each year, but it is put into law by the Pensions Increase (Review) Order, which is usually made in March and applies from April. The revaluation for serving 2015 scheme members is confirmed by a separate revaluation order. We will update this article if either order says anything different.

What to do now

You do not need to apply for the increase. Your pension administrator applies it automatically and it should show on your first payslip after the April 2027 uprating. If you want to see the figure for your own pension, including a part-year increase, use the free police pension increase calculator. Our full guide, the April 2027 police pension increase explained, covers commutation, survivors and injury pensions in more detail.