Five per cent pay rise for officers, report suggests

23 July 2024

Reports that police officers are in line for a five per cent pay rise have been welcomed by the new chair of Derbyshire Police Federation. 

Keith Chambers says the rise, which is more than double the rate of inflation, would be a step in the right direction and would help restore officer pay to its normal level after the 20 per cent real-term salary cuts during the austerity years.

The Telegraph is reporting that the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) is set to recommend the five per cent pay award which, if agreed by the Government, would come into effect in September.

“If this report is accurate then we would welcome a five per cent pay rise,” says Keith, “During the austerity years, police officers received below-inflation pay rises, and this led to their salaries decreasing in real terms. At this time, the pressures on them just grew and grew. 

“The results of our pay and morale survey revealed earlier this year that almost one in five officers did not have enough money to cover their essentials which is a really sorry state of affairs. 

“In addition, 78 per cent of our members who responded said they were satisfied or very dissatisfied with their overall remuneration, which includes basic pay and allowances. 

“Police officers deserve to be paid fairly, and their pay should reflect the challenges and demands of their role.

Campaign

“We are currently experiencing a retention crisis across the police service and restoring pay to a level that reflects the unique role of police officers in our communities could help stem the tide in terms of the numbers of officers quitting.”

The Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) no longer makes a submission to PRRB, saying it is not fit for purpose and does not offer an independent pay award mechanism. 

After a nationwide survey, members have called on PFEW to campaign for industrial rights – specifically for a fair process of collective bargaining and binding arbitration - after a nationwide poll. 

“While we would welcome the five per cent pay rise, this does not take away from our desire to see a new system put in place for determining our pay. We want to see the introduction of collective bargaining and without binding arbitration, we are left at the whim of the Government of the day.”

We will give a full report on the PRRB recommendations when the report is published.

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