CNC Pension Scheme
UKAEA and alpha
Civil Nuclear Constabulary officers are not in a police pension scheme. They are in the UK Atomic Energy Authority's Combined Pension Scheme, which is due to close and move to the civil service alpha scheme. This guide explains what officers pay, what the scheme provides, why the move date keeps slipping and what the 2016 High Court case means for pension age. Read from the scheme administrator, the CNPA's accounts and the court record on 23 October 2026.
Independent information, not advice · Sources checked 23 October 2026 · Civil Nuclear Constabulary (England and Scotland)
CNC officers are in the UKAEA Combined Pension Scheme, a statutory defined benefit scheme that its administrator describes as final salary. Officers earning £21,000 or more pay 8.2% and the CNC pays 20.7%. The scheme is due to close and move to alpha; the date has been delayed and is expected to be confirmed in 2027. Service before the move keeps its final salary link. CNC officers do not get the police age 60 exception: the High Court ruled in 2016 that they are not members of a police force for that purpose.
The CNC scheme is due to close and move to alpha; the date has been delayed and is expected to be confirmed in 2027. Some official documents written earlier in 2026 still give 1 October 2026. That date has passed without the move. Check the administrator's alpha FAQ for the latest position before you make any decision.
The scheme CNC officers are in
CNC officers are employed by the Civil Nuclear Police Authority (CNPA). CNPA employees joined the UKAEA Combined Pension Scheme (CPS) from 1 April 2005. The CNPA's accounts describe it as a "contributory unfunded statutory defined benefit public service pension scheme". In plain terms:
- Statutory: it is set up under law, like other public service pensions, not as a private company scheme.
- Unfunded: there is no pot of investments behind it. Pensions are paid from public money as they fall due.
- Defined benefit: your pension is worked out from your pay and service, not from investment returns.
- Contributory: you pay into it from your salary.
The scheme is managed by the UK Atomic Energy Authority and run day to day by Equiniti, which describes the UKAEA schemes as final salary schemes. Questions about your own record go to Equiniti, not to the CNC's recruitment team.
It is not the Police Pension Scheme that Home Office officers are in. Nor is it alpha, which MOD Police officers are in. That makes the CNC unusual: an armed police force whose officers sit in a nuclear industry pension scheme.
What you pay and what the CNC pays
| Who | Pensionable pay | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| You (member) | £21,000 or more | 8.2% |
| You (member) | £15,000 to £20,999 | 6.5% |
| You (member) | Below £15,000 | 5% |
| The CNC (employer) | All pay | 20.7% |
Every CNC constable point is above £21,000, so a full-time constable pays 8.2%. The CNC's own adverts say the same: "an 8.2% personal contribution". The employer rate of 20.7% was set from 1 April 2022 and the CNPA's accounts expect it to continue through 2026/27.
One current CNC advert quotes a combined monthly pension figure "on our starting salary". By our arithmetic that figure matches the old 2025/26 salary, not the current £32,256. Work from the rates above instead.
Contributions at each CNC pay point
The table applies the published rates to the CNC's 2026/27 constable points. It assumes your pensionable pay is your basic salary. The arithmetic is ours.
| Pay point | Salary | You pay a year (8.2%) | You pay a month | CNC pays a year (20.7%) | Total going in a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Probationer PC / IFP (point 0 and 1) | £32,256 | £2,645 | £220 | £6,677 | £9,322 |
| Constable (point 2) | £33,609 | £2,756 | £230 | £6,957 | £9,713 |
| Constable (point 3) | £34,971 | £2,868 | £239 | £7,239 | £10,107 |
| Constable (point 4) | £36,336 | £2,980 | £248 | £7,522 | £10,501 |
| Constable (point 5) | £39,057 | £3,203 | £267 | £8,085 | £11,287 |
| Constable (point 6) | £44,544 | £3,653 | £304 | £9,221 | £12,873 |
| Constable (point 7) | £52,014 | £4,265 | £355 | £10,767 | £15,032 |
Over the two-year probation, when you are on £32,256, you pay about £5,290 in total and the CNC pays about £13,354 (our arithmetic). At the top point the CNC's share is about £10,767 a year. See our CNC pay scales for how fast you move through the points.
Two things are not published. First, whether allowances such as the £5,000 location allowance at Garlogie and St Fergus count as pensionable pay. Second, how tax relief on your contribution is given. Your payslip will show both.
What the scheme provides
| Feature | What is published |
|---|---|
| Type of pension | Defined benefit. Equiniti describes the UKAEA schemes as final salary schemes. |
| Death in service | A lump sum of twice final earnings may be paid if you die in service (a scheme-wide rule). |
| Ill health | The CNC says the scheme includes provision for life assurance and ill-health support. The detailed ill-health and injury terms are not published on the pages we read. |
| Normal pension age | Recorded as 60 for CNPA members in the 2016 High Court judgment. Not confirmed for a new recruit today. |
The scheme's own booklets and annual benefit statements are the place to check the accrual rate, lump sum options and early retirement terms that apply to you. We have not found those details on a current page, so we do not quote them.
The move to alpha
Equiniti's FAQ says: "Under the Public Service Pensions Act 2013 the CPS is required to close to future accrual." In other words, CNC officers will stop building up pension in the UKAEA scheme and start building it up in alpha, the civil service scheme.
- What moves: active members' future pension build-up.
- What stays: the pension you built up in the CPS before the move. It stays in the CPS.
- When: not fixed. See the next section.
- Contributions after the move: alpha uses its own tiered member rates. What CNC officers will pay in alpha has not been published.
The CNPA's 2025/26 accounts also say that future rises in employer pension costs "could now be in 2027/28", which fits a later move.
Why the date is unclear
Official sources disagree because they were written at different times. Here is what each says:
| Source | Date | What it says |
|---|---|---|
| CNPA tender notice (Find a Tender) | Published 11 May 2026 | Active members move to alpha on 1 October 2026; benefits up to 30 September 2026 stay in the CPS. |
| CNPA Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 | Published 20 July 2026 | The same 1 October 2026 date; employer cost rises "could now be in 2027/28". |
| Equiniti alpha delay FAQs | Undated, current on our read date | The move has been delayed; "we do not have a fixed date to move to alpha"; a new date expected to be confirmed in early 2027; changeover during the 2027/28 tax year. |
The administrator's page is the newest and the one that runs the scheme, so we follow it. The fair summary on 23 October 2026: the CNC scheme is due to close and move to alpha; the date has been delayed and is expected to be confirmed in 2027.
Until a new date is confirmed you keep paying 8.2% into the CPS and keep building up CPS pension. If you are weighing a job offer, a transfer or retirement plans around the move, ask Equiniti for the latest position in writing.
What happens to service before the move
Equiniti says members will have a CPS pension for service before the move and an alpha pension for service after it. It also says that "the connections between CPS and alpha are still there, including the final salary link".
In general terms, a final salary link means the pension for your earlier service is not frozen at your pay on the day of the move: it is worked out on your salary when you eventually leave or retire. That matters for officers who are promoted or move up the pay points after the switch. Ask Equiniti how the link will work for your own record.
So a CNC officer who joins before the move will retire with two pensions from the same job: one from the CPS for the early years and one from alpha for the later years. Each will have its own rules.
Example: a recruit joining in 2026
This example shows what is known and what is not for someone who starts the 19-week course in 2026. The contribution figures are our arithmetic on the CNC's 2026/27 pay; later years will change with pay awards.
| Stage | Pension scheme | What you pay | What is not known yet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Training and probation (years one and two) | UKAEA Combined Pension Scheme | £2,645 a year (8.2% of £32,256) | Nothing material: the CPS rates are published |
| Until the move date | CPS | 8.2% of pensionable pay | The move date (expected to be confirmed in 2027; changeover during 2027/28) |
| After the move | Civil service alpha | Alpha's own member rate | The rate CNC officers will pay; the pension age; whether an employer-funded age of 65 applies |
| Retirement | Two pensions: CPS for early service, alpha for later service | Nothing | When each can be taken without reduction |
Our reading of the practical point: on the administrator's current timetable (changeover during 2027/28), a recruit joining now would build up only a year or two of CPS service before the move. Most of a new recruit's career pension would then be built in alpha, on terms the CNC has not yet published. Someone with many years of CPS service already has far more riding on the final salary link.
Officers who came from the MOD Police in 2025
On 1 April 2025 the CNC took over the policing of four non-nuclear gas sites: St Fergus, Garlogie, Easington and Bacton. The officers who moved from the MDP to the CNC with that work stayed in alpha, with the CNPA as their employer.
The CNPA's accounts give their employer rate as between 28.97% and about 33%. That covers a standard employer contribution plus, in the accounts' words, "for CNC officers an employer funded Effective Pension Age 65". An effective pension age of 65 means the employer pays so that the officer can take their alpha pension at 65 without the reduction that would otherwise apply for taking it before State Pension age.
The accounts state this only for the officers who transferred from the MDP. Whether the same employer-funded age of 65 will apply to all CNC officers once the CPS moves to alpha has not been published. Do not assume it.
Pension age and the 2016 High Court case
Section 10 of the Public Service Pensions Act 2013 sets the normal pension age for the reformed public service schemes at State Pension age, or 65 if higher. Members of a police force, firefighters and the armed forces are the exception: their normal pension age is 60.
In Civil Nuclear Police Federation v Civil Nuclear Police Authority [2016] EWHC 2186 (Admin), decided on 31 August 2016, the Federation argued that CNC officers should get the police exception. The High Court disagreed: CNC officers are not "members of a police force" for the 2013 Act, so the age 60 exception does not apply to them. The Federation lost.
The judgment records the normal pension age in the CPS as 60 for CNPA members at that time. That is the old scheme, not alpha.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Do CNC officers get the police age 60 exception in a reformed scheme? | No. High Court, 2016. |
| What was the CPS normal pension age for CNPA members in 2016? | 60, as recorded in the judgment. |
| What normal pension age does a new recruit have in the CPS today? | Not published. |
| What normal pension age will CNC officers have in alpha? | Not published for CNC officers. |
| Will all CNC officers get an employer-funded effective pension age of 65? | Stated only for the officers who moved from the MDP in 2025. |
| Has any later law given CNC officers retirement at 60? | We found none. The Energy Act 2023 allows regulations to change relevant nuclear pension schemes, but does not name the CNC. |
Every CNC officer is an Authorised Firearms Officer who must pass a fitness test every year. A pension age that may end up well above 60 is a real planning question for anyone joining young. Raise it with the Civil Nuclear Police Federation, which brought the 2016 case.
CNC vs MOD Police pensions
The MOD Police is the other armed national force. Its officers are already in alpha. The MDP figures below come from the MDP's pay page, Civil Service Pensions and the Defence Police Federation.
| Civil Nuclear Constabulary | MOD Police | |
|---|---|---|
| Scheme now | UKAEA Combined Pension Scheme (final salary, per Equiniti) | Civil service alpha |
| Member rate at constable pay | 8.2% (pay of £21,000 or more) | 4.6% (up to £36,199); 5.45% (£36,200 to £56,000) |
| Employer rate | 20.7% | 28.97% |
| Police age 60 exception | No: High Court, 2016 | No: the DPF says leaving the MDP out of it was an error |
| Normal pension age | 60 in the CPS in 2016; not published for a new recruit or for alpha | State Pension age in alpha |
| Employer-funded effective pension age | Stated only for officers who moved from the MDP in 2025 (65) | The higher of 65 or 3 years below State Pension age, for alpha service |
| Change coming | Due to move to alpha; date delayed, expected to be confirmed in 2027 | None announced |
On contributions alone, a CNC constable pays a higher rate than an MDP constable. But the CNC's CPS service is final salary and keeps that link after the move, while alpha builds pension from each year's earnings. Which is worth more depends on your career and is not something a rate comparison can settle. More on the MDP side in our MOD Police pension guide and the CNC vs MOD Police comparison.
If you are thinking of joining or transferring
Our general guidance, not financial advice and not endorsed by the CNC:
- Budget on the 8.2% deduction. It is higher than the 4.6% or 5.45% MDP constables pay in alpha. Our CNC pay calculator shows the effect on take-home pay.
- Expect two pensions. If you join before the move, you will have CPS service and then alpha service, each with its own rules.
- Do not assume age 60. CNC officers lost the police age 60 argument in 2016 and the pension age after the move is not published.
- Transferees: get your current scheme's figures first. If you are in the Police Pension Scheme now, ask your administrator what happens to your police pension if you leave. The CNC does not publish how a transferring officer's police pension is treated. See our CNC transferee guide and transferring a police pension.
- Ask Equiniti for the latest alpha date before any decision that depends on it.
Questions to ask before you decide
Our suggested list. Ask Equiniti about your scheme record and the CNC or the Federation about policy.
- To Equiniti: has a new date for the move to alpha been confirmed? What will my CPS pension be based on after the move?
- To Equiniti: what is my normal pension age in the CPS? What reduction applies if I retire before it?
- To the CNC: what normal pension age will officers have in alpha? Will an employer-funded effective pension age of 65 apply to all officers?
- To the CNC: is the location allowance at my site pensionable?
- To your current scheme (transferees): what happens to my existing pension if I leave to join the CNC? Is any transfer possible?
- To the Civil Nuclear Police Federation: what is the current position on pension age for CNC officers?
Keep the written answers. Pension rules are easier to rely on when you can show what you were told and when.
Pension words explained
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| CPS | The UKAEA Combined Pension Scheme, the scheme CNC officers are in now. |
| alpha | The civil service pension scheme. MOD Police officers are in it; CNC officers are due to move into it. |
| Future accrual | Building up more pension from future service. Closing to future accrual means no new pension is built up in the old scheme, but what you already have is kept. |
| Final salary link | The link between pension from earlier service and your pay when you leave or retire. |
| Normal pension age (NPA) | The age at which a scheme pays your pension without a reduction for early payment. |
| Effective pension age (EPA) | An earlier age at which a pension can be taken unreduced, because the employer (or member) pays the extra cost. |
| Employer rate | The percentage of your pay the employer pays into the scheme on top of your own contribution. |
What is not published
- The normal pension age a new CNC recruit has in the CPS today.
- The normal pension age CNC officers will have in alpha after the move.
- Whether an employer-funded effective pension age of 65 will apply to all CNC officers after the move.
- The confirmed date of the move to alpha.
- The alpha contribution rates CNC officers will pay after the move.
- Ill-health and injury benefit terms for CNC officers.
- Whether allowances are pensionable, including the £5,000 Aberdeenshire location allowance.
- The Civil Nuclear Police Federation's current position on pension age. Its website could not be reached on 23 October 2026.
Common mistakes
- "CNC officers are in the police pension." They are in the UKAEA Combined Pension Scheme.
- "CNC officers are already in alpha." Only the officers who moved from the MDP in April 2025 are. Everyone else is still in the CPS until the move.
- "The move happened on 1 October 2026." That was the earlier plan. The administrator says the move has been delayed.
- Using the MDP's 4.6% for CNC take-home pay. CNC officers pay 8.2% now.
- "CNC officers can retire at 60 like the police." The 2016 case decided they do not get the police exception in a reformed scheme.
- "Moving to alpha wipes out the final salary pension." Service before the move stays in the CPS with the final salary link, according to the administrator.
Want to talk your pension through with someone?
Our calculators show the numbers, but some decisions (when to go, how much lump sum to take, your McCloud choice, a tax charge) are worth talking through with a regulated adviser. Tell us where you are and Andrew, who runs PolicePay, will reply by email.
Frequently Asked Questions
What pension scheme are Civil Nuclear Constabulary officers in?
The UKAEA Combined Pension Scheme (CPS). It is a statutory, unfunded, defined benefit public service scheme managed by the UK Atomic Energy Authority and administered by Equiniti. Civil Nuclear Police Authority employees, including CNC officers, joined it from 1 April 2005. It is not a police pension scheme.
How much do CNC officers pay into their pension?
8.2% of pensionable pay if you earn £21,000 or more, which covers every CNC constable point. Lower earners pay 6.5% (£15,000 to £20,999) or 5% (below £15,000). On the £32,256 starting salary that is about £2,645 a year (our arithmetic). The CNC pays 20.7% on top as employer.
Is the CNC pension a final salary scheme?
The scheme administrator, Equiniti, describes the UKAEA schemes as final salary schemes. When members move to alpha, Equiniti says the connections between the old scheme and alpha remain, including the final salary link for service built up before the move.
When is the CNC pension moving to alpha?
There is no confirmed date. The CNPA's May 2026 tender notice and its 2025/26 accounts said active members would move on 1 October 2026. The administrator's current FAQ says the move has been delayed, there is no fixed date and a new date is expected to be confirmed in early 2027, with the changeover during the 2027/28 tax year. The safe summary: the CNC scheme is due to close and move to alpha; the date has been delayed and is expected to be confirmed in 2027.
Why does the CNC scheme have to move to alpha?
The administrator says that under the Public Service Pensions Act 2013 the Combined Pension Scheme is required to close to future accrual. Alpha is the civil service scheme that members will build up pension in after the move.
Can CNC officers retire at 60 like other police officers?
Not on the same legal basis. In 2016 the High Court ruled that CNC officers are not members of a police force for the Public Service Pensions Act 2013, so the exception that lets police officers have a normal pension age of 60 in a reformed scheme does not apply to them. The Civil Nuclear Police Federation lost that case. The judgment recorded a normal pension age of 60 in the old scheme for CNPA members at that time. The pension age a new recruit has today, or will have in alpha, is not published.
What happened to the officers who moved from the MOD Police to the CNC?
Officers who moved from the MDP to the CNC on 1 April 2025, to police four gas sites, stayed in alpha with the CNPA as their employer. The CNPA's accounts say their employer rate covers a standard employer contribution plus an employer-funded effective pension age of 65.
Does the CNC pension include life cover?
The scheme may pay a lump sum of twice final earnings if a member dies in service. The CNC's careers page says the scheme includes provision for life assurance and ill-health support, but the detailed ill-health and injury terms are not published on the pages we read.
Is the CNC pension better than the MOD Police pension?
They are built differently, so it depends on what you value. CNC officers pay 8.2% into a final salary scheme that is due to move to alpha. MDP officers are already in alpha, pay 4.6% or 5.45% at constable pay in 2026/27 and have an employer-funded effective pension age of 65. The CNC has not published what its officers will get after their move, so a full comparison is not possible yet.
Sources and how we checked them
Every factual claim on this page was written from the sources below, read on 23 October 2026. Rules and figures change, so check the source for the date you are reading this. Where we could not confirm something from an official or independent source, the page says so rather than guessing. Spotted something out of date? See our corrections policy.
- UKAEA pension scheme (Equiniti): About the Scheme : member rates 8.2%, 6.5% and 5%; CNC employer rate 20.7%; final salary schemes; death in service lump sum of twice final earnings (accessed 23 October 2026)
- UKAEA pension scheme (Equiniti): Alpha delay FAQs (undated) : the CPS is required to close to future accrual under the 2013 Act; no fixed date; new date expected early 2027; changeover in 2027/28; final salary link kept (accessed 23 October 2026)
- Find a Tender: CNPA, CNC Pension Scheme notice 2026/S 000-042816 (11 May 2026) : earlier planned move to alpha on 1 October 2026 (accessed 23 October 2026)
- CNPA Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 : scheme description and joining date of 1 April 2005; 20.7% expected to continue through 2026/27; planned 1 October 2026 move; employer cost rises could now be in 2027/28; transferred MDP officers in alpha with an employer-funded EPA 65 (accessed 23 October 2026)
- High Court: Civil Nuclear Police Federation v Civil Nuclear Police Authority [2016] EWHC 2186 (Admin) : CNC officers not members of a police force for the 2013 Act; CPS normal pension age of 60 at that time; Federation lost (accessed 23 October 2026)
- Public Service Pensions Act 2013, section 10 : normal pension age rule and the age 60 exception for members of a police force (accessed 23 October 2026)
- Energy Act 2023 explanatory notes (CNC provisions) : powers to change relevant nuclear pension schemes; the CNC is not named (accessed 23 October 2026)
- CNC careers: Police officers : pension includes provision for life assurance and ill-health support (accessed 23 October 2026)
- CNC advert 735: Police Constable AFO Garlogie 2026 : 8.2% personal contribution (accessed 23 October 2026)
- MOD Police: Salary, allowances and pension : MDP officers automatically join alpha; employer contribution 28.97% (accessed 23 October 2026)
- Civil Service Pensions: contribution rates : alpha member bands for 2026/27 (accessed 23 October 2026)
- Defence Police Federation Circular 03/22: employer-funded EPA : MDP employer-funded effective pension age of the higher of 65 or 3 years below State Pension age (accessed 23 October 2026)
- Defence Police Federation: Members Toolkit, Pensions : MDP left out of the age 60 exception in the 2013 Act (accessed 23 October 2026)
On this topic elsewhere
More in this guide series
Free tools for MOD Police and CNC applicants
Disclaimer
PolicePay.co.uk is an independent guide. It is not affiliated with the Ministry of Defence Police, the Ministry of Defence, the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, the Civil Nuclear Police Authority, the Defence Police Federation, the Civil Nuclear Police Federation, the College of Policing or any other force. It does not recruit, vet or assess applicants. Every fact here comes from the force's own pages, GOV.UK, legislation.gov.uk or the other sources listed, read on the date shown. Each force sets and changes its own process and pay: check its current pages and your own invitation before relying on anything here. Our practice questions are original PolicePay material, not questions used by either force. Details are as checked on 23 October 2026.