Pay rise: effective from 1 September

26 September 2019

The 2.5 per cent pay rise awarded to officers this year came into effect from 1 September 2019.

But members are being reminded that no back pay is due.

Some Federation members have queried a discrepancy between the gov.uk report of the Treasury statement on the timing of the uplift and the Home Secretary’s announcement on the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB).

The gov.uk report says ‘pay rises will be backdated to the start of each workforce’s financial year’.

The ministerial statement by contrast states: ‘the Government has accepted in full the recommendations of the PRRB that a consolidated increase of 2.5 per cent should be awarded to all ranks at all pay points. It has also accepted a corresponding increase to London Weighting and the Dog Handlers' Allowance and an increase in the on-call allowance for officers in the Federated ranks from £15 to £20 for each 24-hour period on-call. These will be implemented with effect from 1 September 2019.”

Confusion stems from the fact that the financial year in many organisations is the same as the pay year and usually starts in April. This is not so for policing, where September has traditionally been the date from which changes to pay are implemented.

“We sought clarity from the Home Office as to when the uplift is intended to take effect in policing. The Home Office has stated that the phrase ‘each workforce’s financial year’ in the gov.uk news story was intended as an over-arching description for payments to be made according to the start of each workforce’s specific pay year,” says Alex Duncan, general secretary of the Police Federation of England and Wales, in a joint statement issued with the Superintendents’ Association secretary, Dan Murphy.

“The Home Office has confirmed that when the statutory consultation occurs regarding the uplift, the date for uplift will be 1 September.”

He adds: “Officers should therefore expect the full recommendations of the PRRB to be implemented, and backdated to 1 September 2019.”