Chairman's Blog: Pay and Morale Survey results show policing is suffering

29 August 2018

I feel we are looking at the collapse of policing as we know it if we continue down this road.

The recent Pay and Morale survey carried out by The Police Federation of England and Wales has revealed that morale of police officers across the country is at an all-time low, with money worries being a big contributor.

In Greater Manchester, the story sounds the same.

94% of GMP officers say morale in their force is low, with 43% reporting that they worried about their finances every day or almost every day.

Force after force has fallen into the grip of this Government ideology and its cuts.

The reality is that police officers are facing financial hardship. We are seeing a rapid increase of very experienced and previously dedicated officers leaving the police service.

While morale is low, and as pay continues to decline, we will struggle to recruit the very best into policing. Policing will suffer and consequently the service we provide to the public will be significantly reduced.

The government and the college of policing may pin their hopes on academia, direct entry and the accelerated promotion scheme. It is a forlorn hope as general working conditions become unattractive for the rank and file.

One figure that came from the survey was that 78% of Greater Manchester police officers felt worse off financially than they were 5 years ago.

There have been cuts to pay. Not a hold on pay, not a pause, not a freeze.  Like in any business, an unhappy workforce does not perform to the best of their ability.

We have a Police Remuneration Review Body that informed the Government of a 3% increase in pay needed for police officers. They’ve not adhered to that, and they consistently do not adhere to the recommendations given to them.

Instead the Government announced all police officers would get a 2% pay rise from 1 September. However, because last year’s pay award consisted of a 1% rise and a 1% one-off bonus, officers are effectively receiving another derisory 1% in their pay packets.

It’s interesting, however, that we have a similar system for MPs and every single time, they do accept their pay increases in full.

How can we stand and look at these Government officials who are supposed to be honest, are supposed to be out there fighting for the members of the public and the police officers. They accept their pay rises and yet they don’t award it to the hardworking police officers.

They consistently provide tired messages of appreciation. They are merely words, not followed up by any action.

I think that the Government work hard to disguise the actual facts of what is happening out there on the streets and the only way we can add pressure to the government is to go out and tell the people the truth.