Concern over pay and morale survey results

14 January 2021

A new survey which found more than half of West Midlands Police Federation members have low morale has been described as “hugely concerning” by Federation branch chair Jon Nott.

The Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) published its annual pay and morale survey, which found that 52 per cent of West Midlands respondents feel their morale was low or very low.

This is the seventh highest level in the country and is set against a national average of 48 per cent. But this is still an improvement on last year’s survey in which 59 per cent of members reported low morale.

The survey also found that 86 per cent of respondents felt morale in the Force was low or very low, compared to 95 per cent last year. Nationally, the figure was 75 per cent.

Jon said: “It’s been an incredibly tough year and the pandemic has clearly had an effect on everyone’s lives. Police officers have been on the frontline throughout, they’ve protected and served the public, and they’ve continued to perform their every day roles as well.

“In responding to this survey, they’ve raised real fears and worries about their morale and their pay, and some of the results are hugely concerning.

“While we are pleased to see that there has been an improvement in morale since last year’s survey it is still unacceptable that more than half of our members are suffering with low morale which will have a serious impact on their wellbeing.

“As a Federation, we will be discussing this survey with chief officers and we will work with the Force to address the issues it highlights though we acknowledge that police officer pay and pensions are both matters which have to be tackled on a national basis.”

The survey was carried out across all 43 forces in England and Wales giving more than 130,000 Federation members their first opportunity to provide detailed feedback on how policing the pandemic had affected their finances and wellbeing.

• More findings from the survey will be published in the February/March edition of our Federation magazine.