Pay And Morale Survey: Two-Thirds Of Officers Dissatisfied With Pay

2 December 2020

66% of Cumbria Police officers who responded to the Police Federation of England and Wales Pay and Morale survey are dissatisfied with their pay - and 41% officers said they have low morale.

48% of respondents from Cumbria Police felt that they were worse off financially than they were five years ago and 33% of officers reported worrying about the state of their personal finances every day or almost every day.

67% of those who responded to the survey – published today (2 December) - said they felt morale within the force is low.

Paul Williams, Chairman of Cumbria Police Federation, said the survey results are a “reflection on the current feelings of the cops in Cumbria.”

He said: “It’s hard to say were going to improve morale around pay because we’ve been hammered for 10 years plus now and were about to be hit again.”

Last week Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that in 2021 police officer pay would be frozen as part of the nation’s response to the coronavirus debt.

However police officer pay – in real terms when you take into account inflation – is already 18% lower than it was in 2010.

193 responses were received from Cumbria Police officers as part of the 2020 pay and morale survey, representing a response rate of around 16%. Other results included that 53% of respondents said that they would not recommend joining the police to others.

And 7% said they had an intention to leave the police service either within the next 2 years or as soon as possible.

When it came to the coronavirus crisis, 67% of Cumbria Police officers said that they have received adequate training on their role in combatting COVID-19 from their force.

68% of respondents said they had access to adequate PPE when necessary during the COVID-19 crisis - 14% said they did not.

Positively, Paul said: “We’ve had very little kick back from our members around COVID specifically how it’s been dealt with.”

According to Paul not only has the force dealt with COVID well, it has also “kicked them into the future”.

He said: “Technology wise we were looking at 2025 for improvements but we are there now. Introducing training in digital leadership, giving managers the tools for modules and to manage staff.”

Paul concluded: “Coming out of COVID-19, we have been looking at completely rewriting policies about working, practising working from home, allowing more flexibility that would never have been shown in the past.

“This will contribute to less sickness, more flexibility for cops and better ways of managing.

“We’ve leapt into the future really very quickly and the force are doing a good job so it’s looking positive.”

Nationally, more than 25,000 police officers responded to the PFEW Pay and Morale survey which ran from 28 July to 11 September 2020.