Cumbria Police Federation: We Must Pay Police Officers Fairly

15 March 2024

Officers need to be paid fairly as policing is in a “recruitment and retention crisis”, the Chair of Cumbria Police Federation has said.

Ed Russell was speaking after Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley gave evidence to the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) and called for a police pay rise at or above the rate of inflation.

Sir Mark pointed out that police officers had seen a 16% real-terms pay cut over the past 12 years and that the high cost of living was placing an even bigger strain on officers, as well as hampering recruitment.

He also asked for the lowest police pay point to be abolished, saying: “It is at the lowest pay points that we’re the least competitive with other sectors, which is why we’re also asking for the lowest pay point to be abolished, with more freedom to set starting salaries.”

The Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) has long called for the Government to consider the “P-factor” in its decisions on police pay – the element of police pay that reflects the unique obligations and responsibilities police officers experience relative to other comparative roles.

Ed commented: “Sir Mark Rowley has been a police officer since 1987 and in this time he has seen nine successive Prime Ministers (some in power for longer than others!). I don’t think it is unreasonable to say that he has a considerable breadth of experience in policing.

“He has made a very unambiguous statement about police pay and, perhaps more importantly, about the ‘backward trend in recruitment’. To be blunt on that point, policing is in a recruitment and retention crisis; experienced officers are leaving the force and this attrition of knowledge can only have negative consequences.

“I wholeheartedly support Sir Mark’s call for change in relation to police pay. We must attract, recruit and retain the very best the country has to offer, and to do so requires investment to give the public the service they deserve, and that all serving officers wish to provide.”