17% Pay Rise Demand Is Long Overdue

9 March 2023

The Police Federation of England and Wales has called for a minimum 17% pay rise for police officers this year.

The PFEW came to the figure after a report by independent think tank Social Market Foundation showed that police officer pay had declined by 17% in real terms since 2000.

Mike Reed, Chair of The City of Police Federation, said: “The demand of the national Police Federation for a pay rise of 17% for police officers is overdue - and one that the Government should sit up and take notice of.

“Cops pay has suffered year on year for over a decade! And the effect it has had is shameful on the those that turn up each day and risk their lives to protect others but then have no voice or power to demand a better deal.

“London officers are being affected by the cost of living in a huge way. I was saddened to open a Food Bank on the behalf of the requests from front line Reps because of the pay our members are receiving. How in 2023 can it be right that cops who are expected as part of their service condition to manage finances be paid so poorly that they need to seek help to do so?

“Policing isn’t anywhere near as simple as it once was. We’ve seen recruitment slogans of ‘police, could you’ but with the levels of violence shown to officers, the constant bashing from armchair experts, the range of crime dealt with from shoplifting to complex online offences with limited resources and the willingness of those in power to use the police as a media distraction the slogan really should read ‘police….why would you?’.

“Something has to change. Although an uplift in numbers is broadly welcomed by all, the retention and value of those officers needs to reflect in what they are paid. There is no other job like ‘the job’ but undermining and undervaluing those in policing will one day lead to it being ‘a job’. I’m not sure that day is that far off.

“What many fail to recognise is policing is run on goodwill. The system is broken but cops make it work. The free hours they give, the work on a day off, the risk of prosecution for carrying out duties such as response driving and firearms and the extra mile they give to victims of crime.

“The Government needs to listen now. They have accused the Federation of crying wolf before - but look at the state of local policing and the links lost with communities when they didn’t listen. That’s where the loss in confidence and trust came in. Policing shouldn’t be a political football but funded appropriately.

“My message to the Government is to listen and act now before ‘the job’ does become ‘a job’. I have so many conversations with officers keen on industrial rights or to withdraw goodwill. I for one cannot blame them at all and will stand by them if it ever come to that. If the pay rise being asked for doesn’t happen then the National Federation should be looking at all options. The gloves should be off, the gentleman’s agreement of fair compensation for reduced rights is a distant memory for those in power and controlling the purse strings.

“I would truly like to see a 17% pay rise that would go towards the recognition of a job like no other. Compensation for not having rights afforded almost all other occupations and rules that govern you both in work and in your home life. But for officers in London this has to also include the 17% applied to the London Allowance and Weighting which has also seen no raise in the same time as the basic wage.”

The SMF research also found that police pay fared badly when compared to other protective services and public sector workers, whose pay rose by 1% and 14% respectively over the same period.

The report also claimed that the decline in police pay is likely to be linked the restrictions on their right to strike.

And it added that if the current police pay trend continued, officer remuneration would drop by a further 4% in real terms by 2027.

PFEW National Chair Steve Hartshorn said: “The Government can no longer sit by and ignore our members’ basic needs and must recognise the impact of this independent research. In the context of ongoing inflation, indications of a police retention crisis, and reports of officers being forced to turn to food banks, the issue of police pay must be addressed now after more than a decade of being ignored.

“Police officers deserve to be treated with respect and dignity, and that begins with better pay. Pay that not only reflects the cost-of-living crisis that many of us face but puts right the 17% decline since 2000 and compensates officers for the dangers they’re exposed to as part of the job. They must be compensated fairly for doing a job that is so important and unique that they do not have access to industrial rights.”

The report also found that a key factor in discussions over police pay should be what it called the “P-factor”: an element of police pay that reflects the unique obligations and responsibilities police officers’ experience relative to other comparable roles. This includes their unique risk of exposure to physical and psychological harm, alongside the restrictions that are placed upon their private lives.