Officers ‘need five per cent’ pay rise
11 March 2020
Police officers should receive a five per cent pay rise in September this year, according to the Police Federation.
The uplift is one of 20 recommendations being made to the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) in a joint submission by the Police Federation of England and Wales and the Superintendents’ Association.
“Police officers’ wages have not kept pace with the cost of living and in real terms we have actually seen their pay fall in recent years. Last year’s pay and morale survey revealed that almost half of our members here in the West Midlands worried about their state of their finances either daily or almost every day,” says Jon Nott, chair of West Midlands Police Federation.
“Four out of five members said they were dissatisfied with their overall remuneration - including basic pay and allowances - and three quarters also felt they were worse off financially than they were five years ago with more than one in 10 admitting they never or almost never had enough money to cover essentials.
“This has to be addressed. Police officers have a unique role in society, putting themselves in harm’s way to protect their communities and sometimes paying the ultimate price. Their pay should reflect the stresses and strains of their job. The Government has launched the biggest recruitment drive in more than a decade so we need officers to be paid a wage that helps attract high calibre individuals to the police service and also helps retain the experienced officers we have already.”
Other recommendations in the submission to the independent pay review body include:
- The introduction of a minimum starting salary £24,177
- The removal of the lowest two pay points for constables to help recruitment
- The shortening of the constables’ and sergeants’ pay scales so officers reach the top faster, and
- The introduction of new top pay scale points for all ranks, to incentivise retention.
The recommendations form part of a 143-page report submitted to PRRB and compiled by the Federation’s research and policy support department.
