Judicial Review proceedings started over pay dispute

14 November 2018

Formal legal proceedings will now start after the Government failed to act on police pay recommendations, the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) has announced.

The move has been welcomed by Rich Cooke, chair of West Midlands Police Federation, who has previously criticised the Government for ignoring the recommendations of the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) for the second year running.

PRRB recommended a three per cent pay rise for officers as of 1 September this year – just short of the Federation’s bid for a 3.4 per cent increase – but the Government awarded two per cent.
“The Federation had now lodged an application to Judicial Review proceedings into the lawfulness of the Government’s decision. This is not just about the derisory pay rise given to officers but also about the whole independent pay review process,” says Rich.

“The PRRB is supposed to act as an independent organisation that considers the evidence submitted by various interested parties, including the Police Federation and Superintendents’ Association, and then makes a recommendation to ministers in terms of what it considers a fair pay award.

“The Federation enters into this process in good faith, providing evidence to support its arguments but, time and time, again we are finding ourselves frustrated and increasingly angry that the Government is choosing to ignore PRRB, undermining the whole process.

“We cannot sit back and let this continue. We will stand up for our members and for what we believe is right.”

• The Federation believes this year’s pay awards actually amounts to a 0.85 increase. This figure is derived from the fact that only one per cent of last year’s two per cent pay rise was consolidated.

That one per cent has now been removed by the Government for this year’s pay award, so taking into account pension contributions, the actual uplift is worth around 0.85 per cent to constables.