‘Officer uplift not enough without better pay and conditions’

27 January 2022

Derbyshire Police has seen a 2.8 per cent increase in officer numbers in the 12 months to the end of September last year.

Federation branch chair Tony Wetton welcomed the progress, which comes as part of the Government Uplift Programme, but warned that even if the Force's total uplift of 283 officers is achieved by March 2023 it may not be enough.

Tony explained: “Getting more officers through the door is a start but it’s really just getting back to where we were before the austerity cuts. The country has moved on since 2010, the population has increased by 4 million and crime is becoming ever more complex and resource-consuming to investigate – we’re having to work harder just to stand still.”

Last year officers were furious when the Government’s only recognition for their hard work and sacrifices during the pandemic was a shameful pay freeze, prompting the Federation to say it no longer had confidence in Home Secretary Priti Patel or the inequitable pay negotiation system.

Tony added:“As well as going further with recruitment, I want to see genuine commitment from the Government to long-term and sustained police funding and pay so that we can hold on to our experienced and talented officers, ensure that they are properly supported and that they are treated fairly.  The effect of recruiting so many new colleagues will be diluted if we continue to lose the ones we’ve got.”

The Home Office’s quarterly uplift statistics published in January show were 139,939 officers in England and Wales as of 31 December 2021 – an increase of 11,505 officers.

In all, 11,048 have been recruited through the Police Uplift Programme so far as part of the Government’s manifesto commitment to recruit 20,000 more officers by March 2023. If the target is achieved, it would bring officer numbers up to around 148,000, which is slightly above the number of officers in 2010.