Cautious welcome for pay rise comes with a warning from Fed chair

30 July 2024

Derbyshire Police Federation chair Keith Chambers says officers continue to suffer a drop in their pay – despite the announcement of a 4.75 per cent increase.

While Keith gave a cautious welcome to the increase for officers, but said it was disappointing when compared to the pay awards offered to millions of other public sector workers.

And he said that the existing pay mechanism was not working for officers and a new, fairer, independent system was needed.

Keith said: “An increase of 4.75 per cent is welcome and, following on from last year’s 7 per cent pay rise, hopefully it will help ease the financial pressures on officers.

Wages

“However, let’s be clear that officers have seen their wages cut in real terms by more than 20 per cent over the past 15 years so there’s still a very long way to go before their pay is restored.

“And while it’s welcome the Police Remuneration Review Body recommendation has been accepted, it’s disappointing that the recommendation was below those proposed for other public sector workers.

“It’s also below the 6 per cent proposed by the National Police Chiefs’ Council – so yet again it feels like police aren’t being recognised for the unique role they perform in society.

“While there is an argument for us to be part of the PRRB, it’s important to remember the previous frustrations when we did have a seat at the table.

“Which is why the Federation continues to call for a fairer, independent system.”

Following a recent poll, the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) will launch a campaign for a new mechanism for determining officer pay awards which includes collective bargaining and access to binding arbitration in recognition of the unique restrictions placed on police officers who, for example, cannot join a trade union or go on strike.

“Our inability to strike is as always contentious issue that divides many,” Keith said. “But it feels unfair that those public sector workers have means of demanding better pay while the police simply don’t.

“Without a new system in place, we are always at the mercy of the government of the day and something needs to change.”

Other announcements include:

The on-call allowance will be increased from £20 to £25
The dog handlers’ allowance should be uprated by 4.75 per cent and the additional rate for officers with more than one dog be raised from 25 per cent to 50 per cent of the rate for the first dog
The PRRB recommended that the chief officer of police in each force should be given the discretion to set the starting salary for new constables at either pay point 1 or pay point 2 on the constables’ pay scale. This recommendation has been accepted, but implementation will be subject to detailed proposals from the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) on the circumstances in which this discretion should be used, along with transition arrangements for those constables on pay point 1, to inform amendments to the Police Regulations 2003
The annual leave entitlements for officers in the federated ranks and recommended the time it takes to reach the maximum entitlement of 30 days should be reduced from 20 to 10 years, with effect from 1 April 2025 and phased in over three years. This recommendation was accepted, subject to the submission of a satisfactory Equality Impact Assessment by the NPCC to the Home Office
The annual leave entitlement for new entrants will be increased from 22 to 25 days, with implementation taking effect on 1 April 2025
The Home Office will provide £175 million in additional funding in 2024-25 to forces to help with the cost of the pay increase.