PFEW no longer has confidence in the current Home Secretary

22 July 2021

The Police Federation of England and Wales no longer has confidence in the current Home Secretary.

Following an extraordinary National Council meeting today, the organisation has also made a decision to withdraw its support and engagement from the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB), labelling the current police officer pay mechanism ‘not fit for purpose’.

The move follows Wednesday’s pay announcement and Home Secretary Priti Patel’s claim that the Government ‘recognises the bravery, commitment and professionalism’ of police officers, while offering no improved financial package to our members to illustrate that is the case.

During the National Council meeting, those present overwhelmingly supported a vote of no confidence in the Home Secretary and the PRRB process for police officer pay.

There is enormous anger within policing, with officers across England and Wales saying the Government takes them for granted and treats them with contempt.

The warm words officers heard from the Home Secretary and the Prime Minister at PFEW’s recent annual conference have not been backed up with action. Far from it. This week’s pay announcement essentially amounts to a pay cut. It is an insult to the thousands of brave men and women who do so much for their communities.

Stu Berry, Chairman of Greater Manchester Police Federation, said: “The warm words of the Home Secretary have been unmasked, and the pay review body exposed as a sham.

“We are easy prey for a Government, which seeks to exploit the only public servants unable to exercise trade union powers. I have no doubt that that MPs will not be so frugal with their own salary increases at taxpayers’ expense.

“Despite the lack of appropriate protective equipment at the start of the pandemic and perpetually rushed changes to unenforceable legislation, without consultation, our members took to the streets to assist to hold the fabric of our society together.  

“This is a slap in the face for all Police Officers and the reality is that this Government cannot and has not changed, truly bereft of any appreciation of the hard work and dedication of our members throughout the pandemic.

“There have been no extra Police Officers throughout this time, just cancelled rest days, extended shifts, and cuts to pay year after year, after year.”

PFEW National Chair John Apter said: “The PRRB is not truly independent, the body which is the only mechanism we have to consider any pay award for police officers, has its hands constantly tied by the Government who continually interfere. The PRRB itself recognises its lack of independence. We can no longer accept this and have no confidence in this system which is why we are walking away.

“We often hear the Home Secretary praise police officers but our members are so angry with this Government. They have been on the frontline of this pandemic for 18 months and will now see other public services given pay increases while they receive nothing.

“At the beginning of this pandemic they endured PPE shortages and were not even prioritised for the vaccination. They continue to be politicised and this pay announcement is the final straw. As the organisation that represents more than 130,000 police officers I can say quite categorically – we have no confidence in the current Home Secretary. I cannot look my colleagues in the eye and do nothing.”

For too long PFEW has also been forced to enter into an unfair pay process with the odds weighted firmly in the favour of the Government.

The PRRB’s lack of independence is something the body recognises itself and even highlights in its report.

With inflation set to increase to almost four per cent later this year, this is yet another real-terms pay cut for police officers in England and Wales and a huge slap in the face for our members who have been attacked and vilified while holding the frontline during this pandemic.

PFEW has tried its level best to be entirely co-operative in all dealings with Government. But this Government and this Home Secretary, for all their talk of how much they value what we do, have made this impossible. They cannot be trusted or taken at face value in the way we would expect.

As the undisputed voice of policing we say this to the Home Secretary: you cannot pat our members on the back for their heroic efforts with one hand, while effectively taking their pay with the other. Warm words are no longer enough.