'We Want A Service To Be Proud Of, Not Be Ridiculed By Government'

9 March 2023

The Police Federation of England and Wales is seeking a 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.

Stephen Williams-Reader, Chair of Cleveland Police Federation, said:: “Cleveland Police Officers deserve a 17% increase.

“We are witnessing other Public Sector services and Emergency Services resort to either going on strike or threatening to. Police Officers do not have the right to strike, we take the oath, we are Servants of the Crown. We want to provide a service to be proud of, not to be ridiculed by the Government.

“The unique role of a Police Officer has us to run towards the danger to keep our communities safe from harm. We are Policing under pressure.”

“Police Officers deserve a fair deal on Pay.”

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.