Chief officers urged to lobby Government on pay

11 January 2023

Hertfordshire Police Federation chair Luke Mitchell has urged senior officers to challenge the Government over pay and conditions after a survey found low morale within the Force.

Luke said the time had come for the Force to show greater courage in its dialogue with ministers and to ensure the rank and file knew their leaders were fighting for a better police service.

“Hertfordshire Police Federation’s voice and message has been clear and consistent for a number of years in the terms of the state of policing, where we were heading and the crisis we were facing. We have been publicly voicing our concerns,” Luke said.

“Since 2010, officers have suffered a 25 per cent real-terms pay cut and this has to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

“Last year’s pay award, in the light of inflation and the rising cost of living, amounted to the worst we have had under this Government. We can’t continue in this direction.”

Luke’s comments came after the findings of the Police Federation’s 2022 pay and morale survey were published earlier today.

The survey found 58 per cent of respondents from Hertfordshire Police Federation said their morale was low or very low while 87 per cent felt morale within the Force was low or very low.

Only eight Police Federation branches in England in Wales reported lower personal morale among their members.

The survey also revealed that almost all members (95 per cent) did not feel respected by the Government while more than two thirds (70 per cent) said they did not feel valued within the police service.

More than eight in ten officers (85 per cent) said  they had experienced feelings of stress, low mood, anxiety or other difficulties with their health and wellbeing over the last 12 months

Luke said: “We have endured 12 years of cuts and underfunding and restricted pay awards of either zero or one per cent and we are now being stretched to the limit.

“After 10 years of so-called reforms the police service is in the worst state it has ever been in and, while our chief officers are doing everything within their power to improve the situation, this is solely down to the Government.

“And while Hertfordshire Constabulary doesn’t get everything right I have seen a lot of activity focusing on welfare, focusing on the things it can do so the only thing I can ask of our executive team is that it is far more vocal with the Government.

“It’s not lost on me that the Force has used the target variable payment to try to ease the financial pressures on officers but also that we were the first to go to the full South East Allowance, which was also backdated. Our executive team has run out of cards and officers are still struggling both financially and due to the sheer demands placed upon them.

“I appreciate there are conversations that take place behind closed doors but the workforce needs to know what is being done to lobby Government. We don’t hear enough about what the executive team is doing around pay.

“It’s time to be brave. I am brave enough as branch chair to call out our MPs, to call out the policing minister and to call out the Home Secretary. Enough is enough. This can’t continue. I have today written to all 11 Hertfordshire MPs outlining my concerns and asking them to support us so we can ensure we keep our communities safe.”

Pay remains a huge issue among branch members as the cost of living crisis continues to hit households with 78 per cent saying they were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with their overall remuneration including basic pay and allowances.

Almost all respondents (98 per cent) reported that their cost of living had increased in the last month, with an increase in the price of their fuel being the most cited reason.

More than eight in ten (83 per cent) felt they were worse off financially than they were five years ago and more than a fifth (22 per cent) said they never or almost never had enough money to cover all their essentials.

Some 23 per cent of respondents said they intended to resign from the police service within the next two years or as soon as they can with morale, pay and the impact of the job on their mental health and wellbeing given as the main reasons. Seventy one per cent would not recommend a career in the police.  

Luke said: “We are going to need a substantial pay increase moving forward and we also need a substantial investment into policing and the public sector and you can’t really have one without the other. 

“There has been 12 years of underinvestment in terms of money going into the organisation and 12 years of underinvestment in terms of police pay and it cannot continue any longer.”

The Police Federation received 824 responses from Hertfordshire Police Federation members, representing a response rate of around 37 per cent.

The survey findings will be presented to chief constables, ministers and other stakeholders as part of the Federation’s campaign for better pay and conditions and further improvements to the police service.

Read the full report.