Police pay: officers grateful for 2.5% rise given current economic environment

18 August 2020

Essex officers will gratefully receive a 2.5% boost to their pay packets, even though it’s half what police leaders wanted to see.

The Government said the uplift in salaries would take effect from September – a timely boost for some officers who have been struggling with their finances during the virus.

Essex Police Federation Chair Laura Heggie said her members understood the tight economic environment due to COVID-19 and would be grateful for the increase, even though they deserve more.

“We know what a massive effect COVID-19 has had on the economy as a whole, so we are grateful for the 2.5%. It’s not the 5% that we asked for, or that we deserve, but we’re not going to turn it down,” she said.

“We’ve been hit with pay cuts every year. Although you may look at it and say it’s 2.5% we should be jumping for joy; we’ve lost 18% over the years.

“So, we’re a long way off from that. Yes, we’ve got 2.5% this year, but we’ll still be pushing for 5% next year, so I’d like to hope that we still get another pay rise next year too.”

The extra pay will be beneficial for some officers who Laura knows have been struggling to make ends meet.

“Our officers deserve it just as much as everybody else, and we have got officers that are struggling,” she said.

“I know some of its COVID-19 related, but in the last month, I’ve seen more requests come through our Benevolent Fund for officers that are struggling financially with their mortgages, even with taking mortgage breaks around just day to day living.

“That can’t be acceptable, and it can’t continue. And that’s only going to get worse. People are just going to be getting into more and more debt. It has to end at some point. The only way that can be is for us to continue still to get the pay rises we deserve.”