Essex Police Pay and Morale Report

10 April 2024

84% of Essex Police officers feel ‘worse off’ financially now than they were five years ago and 22% ‘never’ or ‘almost never’ have enough money to cover all their essentials.

According to the 2023 Police Federation of England and Wales Pay and Morale Report – published today - 90% of respondents have seen living cost increases in the previous month and 78% of officers are dissatisfied with their pay.

Worryingly, 15% of Essex Police officers who responded to the survey said they intend to resign from the police service either ‘within the next two years’ or ‘as soon as [they] can’.

Whilst Police Officers received a 7% pay rise in 2023, they have still seen an incredible 16% real-terms pay cut over the past 12 years. 

Police chiefs have pointed out that the high cost of living in the UK is placing an even bigger strain on officers, as well as hampering recruitment. They have asked the Government for officers to receive a 6% pay rise in 2024. 

Officers are also struggling with low morale and lack of support, the survey found. 92% of officers said they do not feel respected by the Government, and 52% said they were experiencing low morale.

70% of respondents from Essex Police said that they would not recommend joining the police to others. 66% said they do not feel valued within the service.

Laura Heggie, Chair of Essex Police Federation, said: “Some of the results from the survey cause serious concern. More than 50% of Essex Police officers class their morale as low/very low, which doesn’t come as a surprise when you consider the increase from last year in areas which would impact morale.

“These include never or rarely getting a refreshment break, not finishing on time, the feeling that they aren’t treated fairly, not being able to get time off whilst carrying large workloads and worrying about how they are going to be able to afford to live and feed their family.

“It’s worrying that even though a lot of effort has gone into removing the stigma around mental health this survey highlights officers still feel they have to take leave rather than reporting sick and making others aware they are struggling with their mental health.

“We all know that a happy workforce is a productive one, one that will go that extra mile but if they are being knocked down that’s not going to happen. We have a young workforce, in both age and experience, we need to be looking at every way we can to encourage officers to join Essex Police as a career, to retain and build on that experience.

“Officers feel that they are expected to commit and give so much but this has become very one way."

More than one in two officers who receive the South East allowance said they were dissatisfied with the amount and a third of officers who said they don't live in their police force area said it was because they could not afford to.

In addition nearly 60% of officers said they had annual leave refused in the last year and 30% of officers said they could could not take the annual leave they were entitled to.

Nearly 60% of officers have had rest days cancelled over the past year and 91% of officers have worked paid or unpaid overtime.

Officers are coming under attack from the public too, the report showed, with 16% having suffered one or more injuries that required medical attention as a result of work-related violence in the last year.

Only 30% of officers who responded reported having access to double crewing at all times whilst on duty.

61% of respondents from Essex Police said that over the last 12 months, their workload has been ‘too high’ or ‘much too high’. 5% of officers said that they have ‘never’ or ‘rarely’ been able to take an 11-hour break between shifts in the last 12 months and 32% said they feel ‘always’ or ‘often’ feel pressured into working long hours.

Sadly, 82% of respondents from Essex Police indicated that they had experienced feelings of stress, low mood, anxiety, or other difficulties with their health and wellbeing over the last 12 months, and 43% said that they find their job ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ stressful.

The survey is based on 1121 responses received from Essex Police officers.