The Police Federation of England and Wales has warned that recommending another real-terms pay cut for officers would accelerate the loss of experienced frontline policing and place public safety at genuine risk.

In its report to the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB), the Federation is calling for a minimum 7% annual pay award for the next three years, a reset it says is essential to halt a downward spiral in retention, morale and operational capability.

The warning comes after:

• The Government’s remit letter to the PRRB made clear that recommendations must reflect affordability within existing funding settlements; and

• The National Police Chiefs’ Council indicated it would support a 3.5% award only if fully funded, falling to 2.5% if it is not.

The Federation warns that presenting a real-terms pay cut for more than 145,000 officers as “fair” cements decline into the police service, with direct consequences for retention, supervision and public safety.

Nearly half of all constables now have five years’ service or less. In some forces, probationers are training probationers. One in four officers is considering leaving. Officers are assaulted every 10 minutes and around 30 are injured every day.

PFEW National Secretary John Partington said: “If affordability within existing budgets becomes the ceiling for police pay, we are guaranteeing a broken service. It is neither fair to officers nor affordable to the public who pay the cost in crime and reduced safety.

"A properly independent review body must determine what resources proper policing really needs, not simply how much more blood can be squeezed from the stone."

He added it was disappointing that the NPCC had shown it was ready to accept such a low settlement.

He said: "Officers will be putting their health and their lives on the line this weekend knowing their chiefs are recommending what is in effect a real-terms pay cut. Chief constables should be honest with the people they are supposed to lead: they are endorsing another reduction in officers’ living standards, one which has obvious and severe consequences.

"You cannot demand more courage, more resilience and more personal risk while steadily reducing the value of the job. Brave and dedicated men and women are leaving policing in record numbers because it no longer pays enough to justify the cost to them and their families."

Alongside its pay claim, the Federation is calling for structural reform of police remuneration, including introduction of a military-style ‘P Factor’ recognising the unique risks, restrictions and psychological trauma inherent in policing.

Evidence submitted to the PRRB shows:

• Almost half of all constables have five years’ service or less
• Mental health-related sickness absence is at record levels
• Assaults on officers remain persistently high

The Police Federation is calling for:

 

Pay

• A minimum 7% annual pay award for 2026/27 and the following two years to restore stability and begin reversing long term pay erosion.

• Full recognition of the “P Factor” in police pay, properly reflecting the risks, restrictions and obligations unique to policing.

• Fewer pay points for constables, simplifying progression and improving competitiveness, including removal of the lowest pay points to reflect frontline expectations from day one.

Allowances

• Increase the unsocial hours allowance from 10% to 20% for work undertaken on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays between 8pm and 6am.

• Modernise acting up and temporary promotion payments, paid from day one and made pensionable and reckonable.

• End discretion on London and South-East allowances and pay them at maximum rates, alongside a full review to ensure officers can maintain a consistent standard of living across England and Wales.

• Increase and reform protection allowances, ensuring fairness and parity. Regulations and wellbeing

• Increased annual leave, with an annual payment for unused leave.

• Introduction of long service leave and recuperation leave.

• Paid compensation or TOIL for court warnings, regardless of notice.

• Family leave as a day one right, with provision that reflects the realities of policing.

• New shift disturbance and detectives’ allowances.

• Extend workload payments to inspectors and chief inspectors, with additional pay for hours worked beyond 48 per week, pending a full review of the 1994 PNB Agreement.