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Nottinghamshire Police Federation

‘Restore police pay or face further retention issues’

3 February 2025

A drop in the number of Nottinghamshire Police officers will have an impact on the Force and on our communities, says Federation branch chair Simon Riley.

Simon said he was ‘disappointed but not surprised’ by new Home Office figures, which show the number of full-time equivalent officers in the Force fell by 18 (0.7 per cent) in the six months to September.

Nationally, police officer numbers in England and Wales fell by 878 in the same six-month period, a drop of 0.6 per cent.

Now, Simon is urging the government and police leaders to do all they can to solve the retention crisis.

 

 

He said: “It's disappointing. That’s 18 officers who felt they could not continue in policing.

“That’s 18 officers who are now not there to work with and to support their colleagues.

“It means the loss of their experience, their skills, and means even heavier workloads for those that remain.

“It means that there are potentially 18 communities who are down an officer and without that presence and reassurance.

Recruiting

“We’ve got new recruits leaving the service because it’s not what they thought it would be, which is disappointing because of the time and money invested in recruiting and training them.  

“And we’re seeing older officers leave for better-paid jobs, or for jobs which carry significantly less stress than policing, and that’s disappointing because we’re losing their skills and experience.”

Simon pointed to the results of Nottinghamshire Police Federation’s Pay and Morale Survey for reasons why officers are leaving.

More than one in 10 respondents (11 per cent) said they intended to resign from the police, with the main reasons being morale, how the government treats the police, and the impact of the job on mental health and wellbeing (81 per cent, 70 per cent and 68 per cent respectively).

Pay

Some 71 per cent said they were dissatisfied with their pay and pensions and 12 per cent said they did not have enough money to cover their essentials.

Almost six out of 10 (58 per cent) said their workload in the past 12 months was too high, 31 per cent said they felt pressured into working long hours, and 82 per cent indicated they had experienced feelings of stress, anxiety, and low mood.

Simon said: “It’s disappointing, infuriating even, because you never want to lose officers, but when you look at the experience of frontline officers, it’s not surprising.

“The retention crisis will continue until police pay is restored, until people feel valued for the great work they do, and we have sustained long-term investment in our people, infrastructure and equipment.

“We need quick and decisive action now to address it.”

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