MINISTER DID NOT CONFIRM ANY ABUSE IN PERF SCHEME

The Minister of Police, Hon John Luxton, today rejected suggestions in this morning's Dominion that he had advised the Justice and Law Reform Select Committee that some police had abused the early retirement fund payout known as PERF.

In responding to questions from Opposition members alleging three possible cases of unjustified PERFing, Mr Luxton said that health professionals had to provide a certification in these cases. "As with all employee assistance schemes, there is a perceived potential for abuse. There is certainly not any proof of abuse in the Police scheme. The integrity of the system quite properly depends on the assessment of health professionals," Mr Luxton stated.

"I have previously raised concerns with Police management regarding the recent statistics which showed a large increase in PERFs whereas normal retirements have remained relatively static."

"As a result of my concerns, a few weeks ago I asked management to keep this
issue under ongoing analysis and monitoring," the Minister said.

"The scheme seems to be misunderstood, particularly by the Opposition members
who point to the sums of money paid in the three cases which in their view are
examples of abuse, but without presenting any proof of abuse. They fail to
consider why the scheme was established, what the payments comprise, or the
degree of medical assessment required."

"Police generally have very high standards of health, necessary for officers to be fully effective in the field. The scheme was established in 1985 under the previous Labour administration, and it is a bit rich for Labour members to now claim the scheme they promoted is openly abused," said Mr Luxton.

"I am very supportive of the scheme because of its rationale which is to allow those who cannot continue in the service to leave with dignity where they are suffering from a range of conditions which do not respond to treatment. Over the past decade 1581 sworn staff have left the service under the provisions of this scheme."

"The superannuation scheme is a compulsory one for all sworn members of Police (who have to contribute 7% of their own salary), and that sets police apart from most other occupations. The money received on PERFing is largely the members own investment and protection for their future, both for themselves and their families," he concluded..