Government Must Right Wrongs On Police Pay

24 July 2024

The new Government must put right the wrongs of the past on police pay, amid speculation officers are due to receive a 5% rise this year, City of London Police Federation has said.

Chair Mike Reed was speaking after reports emerged that the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) has recommended officers receive just under 5% in their pay award this year.

Mike said: “There is speculation that the Government is to award the police service a 5% pay rise this year. Although that would be a very welcome increase pay of police officers, that is significantly below where it should be.

“It would go somewhere towards honouring the agreement that Government has with policing for fair and reasonable pay awards when balancing out what ‘The Job’ entails and the restrictions on officers’ private lives.

“What would be interesting to know is how this amount has come to be. Police pay should be set by an independent body and not lumped in with other public sectors, who for many years have been getting pay awards above that of police officers.

“Even a raise of 5% on a salary that hasn’t keep up with inflation is still behind where it should be.

“With the recent poll that shows that police officers want a degree of industrial rights, now is the time to put wrong the rights of the past decade of nil or negligable pay awards.

“It may not be the new Government’s mess but the ability to put right past wrong is now on their watch. They need to recognise both the role of policing, and also the pay and conditions that need to be in place for them to recruit and retain the extra officers the new Prime Minister has pledged.”

The calls for an increase in police pay have been echoed by the Chief Inspector of Constabulary Andy Cooke, who this week called for officers to receive bigger pay rise for the bravery, professionalism and compassion they showed on a daily basis.

Speaking ahead of an expected announcement on public sector pay rises before the Parliamentary summer recess, he told the Daily Telegraph: “I’ve said before many times that the police are not paid enough.

“But we are in a difficult financial time when public money is scarce and there needs to be a sensible approach to how much of a pay rise can be afforded across the country.

“So for the risks that they take, for the bravery they show, for the professionalism they show, the compassion that they show on a daily basis, yes, I would always say the police should be paid more money, particularly front-line officers.”