Pay Survey: 'Stress Of Policing Is Not Worth The Money On Offer'

12 January 2023

Pay Survey: 'Stress Of Policing Is Not Worth The Money On Offer'

A shocking 88% of Leicestershire Police officers feel ‘worse off’ financially now than they were five years ago.

And 18% ‘never’ or ‘almost never’ have enough money to cover all their essentials, according to the 2022 Police Federation of England and Wales Pay and Morale Report.

The research found that 98% had seen living cost increases in the previous month and that four fifths (81%) were dissatisfied with their pay.

Last year police officers across England and Wales were given an average of a 5% pay rise – but this was way below inflation booming now at more than 10%. Household bills are rising sharply and over the past 12 years police officer pay has fallen in real terms by 25%.

Officers are also struggling with low morale and lack of support, the survey found. A huge 94% of officers said they do not feel respected by the Government, and 56% per cent said they were experiencing low morale.

Officers are coming under attack from the public too, the report showed, with 15% having suffered one or more injuries that required medical attention as a result of work-related violence in the last year.

Two fifths of Leicestershire officers said they ‘always’ or ‘often’ feel pressured into working long hours over the last 12 months.

Low mood and poor wellbeing is also a problem at the force. 65% said they do not feel valued within the service, and three fifths (61%) said they would not recommend joining up to others.

Sadly, 85% of respondents from the Leicestershire Police indicated that they had experienced feelings of stress, low mood, anxiety, or other difficulties with their health and wellbeing over the last 12 months, and 46% said that they find their job ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ stressful.

Worryingly, 14% of respondents told researchers that they intend to resign from the police service either ‘within the next two years’ or ‘as soon as [they] can’.

Adam Commons, Chair of Leicestershire Police Federation, said: "Sadly the survey results do not surprise me. In the main my colleagues in Leicestershire feel the same as the rest of the country, there were only two areas where our figures were higher than the national average, those being high workload and being double crewed.

"I have already discussed the report with Chief Constable Rob Nixon. We know that demand is 20% higher due to a number of factors, including being the service of last resort. I can assure colleagues the Force are challenging back and trying to bring this down with local initiatives and engagement with stakeholder partners.

"Our position in the Federation is that we’d like everyone double crewed all of the time because the stats show its safer. There is no resistance from the Force on this either and they would prefer that to happen the majority of the time."

Adam added: "What is absolutely clear is the message from my colleagues to the Government as they do not feel valued. Enough is enough. You have treated the police with complete disdain for over 10+ years and the recent budget announcements show there is no change. We are heading deeper into crisis, people are leaving because the stress and demand of this job is not worth the money on offer and the Prime Minister can only hide in Downing Street for so long before he has to act."