Police Federation

Pay and Morale Survey

On Monday 6 November the Police Federation of England and Wales will launch its annual Pay and Morale Survey.

The findings from the 2023 Pay and Morale Survey will provide strategically important evidence to support our ongoing national pay campaign, calling for fair remuneration for police officers, and an independent pay mechanism.

It will also provide accurate and timely information on the current state of police morale and wellbeing, helping to inform and drive forward policies to support officers.

The Pay and Morale Survey, conducted by PFEW's in-house Research Department, remains the sole consistent national survey that accurately represents members' perspectives on pay and working conditions.

The link to the survey and full details will be sent to individuals on Monday 6 November.

Closing date: Monday 11 December.

If you have any questions or experience any issues, please email researchanddatacollection@polfed.org.

#PayandMorale #YourSayOnPay 

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2022 survey

For 2022, PFEW amalgamated the Demand, Capacity and Welfare Survey questions within the Pay and Morale Survey to enable us to focus on our members' welfare and wellbeing concerns alongside their views on pay and working conditions.

Capturing all the information in one survey has enabled us to help our members avoid survey fatigue whilst highlighting welfare and wellbeing issues.

The survey was live from September - October 2022.

Of 36,669 officers who responded, 95 per cent said their treatment by the Government harmed their morale with 87 per cent saying the same for pay.

The survey found 9 in 10 police officers feel financially worse off than they were five years ago and nearly one in five officers plan on handing in their resignation as soon as possible or within the next two years due to reasons including unfair pay.

Other findings include:

  • 83% of respondents said that they are ‘dissatisfied’ or ‘very dissatisfied’ with their
    overall remuneration (including basic pay and allowances).
  • 98% of respondents reported that their cost of living had increased in the last month, with ‘the price of my food shop has increased’ being the most cited reason (98%).
  • 69% of respondents reported worrying about the state of their finances ‘every day’ or ‘almost every day’.
  • 87% of respondents (9 in 10) felt that they were ‘worse off’ financially than they were five years ago.
  • 56% of respondents told us that their morale is currently ‘low’ or ‘very low’.
  • 87% of respondents feel that morale within the force is currently ‘low’ or ‘very low’.
  • 95% said that how the Police are treated by the government had a negative impact on their morale 87% said the same for pay.
  • 94% of respondents said that they do not feel respected by the government.
  • 70% of respondents said that they would not recommend joining the police to others.
  • 18% of respondents told us that they had an intention to resign from the Police service either ‘within the next two years’ or ‘as soon as [they] can’.
  • 66% of respondents said that over the last 12 months, their workload has been ‘too high’ or ‘much too high’.
  • 88% said that they do not feel that there are enough officers to meet the demands of their team or unit.
  • 37% of respondents have experienced verbal insults (e.g., swearing, shouting, abuse) at least once per week in the past 12 months.
  • 18% of respondents reported that they had suffered one or more injuries that required medical attention as a result of work-related violence in the last year.
  • 92% said that these feelings of stress, low mood, anxiety or other difficulties had been caused, or made worse, by work.

You can read the full headline report here and view the technical annexe here

The 2022 survey reports for each branch and Wales can be found on the survey hub. 

What else do we do with the findings?

We use the survey data to influence other policing stakeholders - for example, the College of Policing on initiatives such as competency-based pay. Also, HMICFRS have welcomed the robust and meaningful data, and now make use of the pay and morale survey findings in their national Police Effectiveness Efficiency and Legitimacy (PEEL) assessment reports. This ultimately benefits federated ranks by ensuring improved management and support systems. 

However, these are only some of many ways in which our members’ feedback via this survey is fed into our national and local policies. The survey also provides our local Branches with their officers’ views on pay and conditions, which helps when they discuss such matters with their chiefs and local MPs.

We also present results from the survey at high-profile academic conferences, and have published in peer-reviewed policing journals. We believe that this enhances the standing of the PFEW as an organisation that demonstrates rigour and transparency in our data and policy. Ultimately, this activity helps demonstrate the credibility of the work and makes it harder to dispute findings – however unpalatable other stakeholders may find them to be.

2021 survey

In our 2021 pay and morale survey police officers voiced almost total dissatisfaction with the Government. Of 29,587 officers who responded, 95% said their treatment by the Government had a negative impact on their morale, while 93% stated they did not feel respected by it.

Other findings include:
• 92% said they are not fairly paid for the stresses and strains of their job
• 86% said they do not feel fairly paid for the hazards within their job
• More than one in 10 regularly struggle to cover the cost of essential items
• 58% said their morale is low. This has increased from 48% last year
• 84% of respondents said treatment by the public had a negative impact on morale

You can read the Pay and Morale technical annexe here.

2020 survey

PFEW's 2020 survey ran from 28 July to 11 September 2020. The survey covered our usual cost of living and morale questions and also assess the impact of Covid-19 on officers finances, working conditions and morale. It also gauged views around the proposed 20,000 officer uplift. The 2020 survey revealed that, 86% of respondents said they did not feel fairly paid in relation to the stresses and strains of the job, 65% of respondents reported the COVID-19 crisis has had a negative impact on their morale and 76% felt unfairly paid for the risks & responsibilities of their job during the pandemic.

The 2020 survey revealed:

- 86% of respondents said they did not feel fairly paid in relation to the stresses and strains of the job.

- 65% of respondents reported the COVID-19 crisis has had a negative impact on their morale.

- 76% felt unfairly paid for the risks & responsibilities of their job during the pandemic.


Pay and Morale Survey 2020 national reports:

Attitudes Towards Pay

Cost of Living

COVID

Morale and Engagement

Professional Development

Technical Annex

Officer Uplift


The 2020 pay and morale survey reports for each branch can be found on our  Survey hub.

 

2019 survey

The findings from the 2019 pay and morale survey revealed that only 36% of respondents said they had enough money to cover their monthly essentials, with around one in eight admitting they have had to seek financial support to cover day to day expenses within the last year. Out of the 19,654 respondents to the survey conducted between June and August 2019, almost 75% said they felt worse off financially than they were five years ago. 

Our submission to the PRRB contributed to the achievement of a 2.5% uplift in pay for all ranks, and the lowest rung of the sergeants' pay scale was scrapped in line with our recommendations.

2018 survey

Our 2018 pay and morale survey found that more police officers than ever (7.8%) had taken second jobs. This was up 6.3% on the previous year. A staggering 44.8% said they worried about the state of their personal finances either every day or almost every day. And more than one in nine (11.8%) said they never or almost never had enough money to cover all of their essentials. This was up from 11% on the year before. The vast majority of respondents, 87.9%, did not feel fairly paid considering the stresses and strains of their job. More than 27,000 police officers - nearly a quarter of all ranks from constable to chief inspector - took part in the survey.

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