Deputy National Chair Brian Booth: “Today’s pay award of 4.2% barely treads water, with inflation currently at 4.1%. 

"We note that Chief Constables argued for a pay rise of just 3.8%. We welcome the government’s decision to reject that position and instead listen to the strong case we have been making on behalf of police officers across the country.

"However, after more than a decade of real terms pay cuts, this award does little to reverse the long-term decline in officers’ living standards or address the crisis policing faces. A pay rise worth the price of a Big Mac per shift won’t stop record levels of resignations, record mental health absences, or the record number of assaults on officers.

"We will now ask our members whether they accept or reject this award."