Chair reflects on ‘alarming’ Pay and Morale results

10 April 2024

Hertfordshire Police Federation chair Luke Mitchell described new research that shows one in five officers intend to resign from the Force within the next two years as ‘alarming’.

Only four other forces in England and Wales have a higher percentage of officers who intend to leave, and Luke said the figures must act as a wake-up call.

The figures are included in the latest Police Federation for England Wales (PFEW) Pay and Morale Survey for Hertfordshire.

They show that of those 19 per cent intending to leave the service, the main reasons are morale (88 per cent), the impact of the job on their mental health and wellbeing (73 per cent), and how the police are treated by the Government (71 per cent).

Luke said: “The annual PFEW pay and morale survey makes for difficult reading.

“These figures suggesting that one in five officers are thinking of quitting the Force are alarming and should set alarm bells blaring, because there is a real retention crisis in policing.

“But is it really surprising given the real-term pay cuts members have endured, the cuts to funding, and the way officers are increasingly used as a political football?

“The worry is that until Government attitudes towards policing changes with proper support and investment and pay, then the situation is likely to get worse before it gets better.”

The survey found that more than half of Hertfordshire Police officers (54 per cent) felt their morale was low or very low. 88 per cent felt morale within the Force is currently low or very low.

Almost one in five respondents (18 per cent) reported never or almost never having enough money to cover all their essentials, while 70 per cent said they were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with their overall remuneration.

Luke said: “It’s appalling that so many police officers, who put themselves in harm’s way every day to serve and protect the public, go home at the end of their shift and worry about putting food on the table and keeping a roof over their heads.

“This will only fuel the ongoing retention crisis, and prevent us from attracting the best people into policing.

“Police officers don’t have industrial rights, which is why PFEW is looking at balloting members on whether they want to seek greater industrial rights, because something has to change.”

Other findings in the Hertfordshire Police Pay and Morale Survey include: 

• 68 per cent said that over the last 12 months, their workload has been too high or much too high

• Five per cent said they have never or rarely been able to take an 11-hour break between shifts in the last 12 months

• 26 per cent feel always or often pressured into working long hours over the last 12 months. This is the joint second lowest in the country

• 46 per cent said they find their job ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ stressful

• 88 per cent indicated 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’ll be sharing the results with the senior leaders and working with them and encouraging them to tackle the areas highlighted in the survey that are within their gift.

“My members and I are keen to hear from senior officers about what they are doing to force Government into a substantive pay increase.

“We’d also be interested to hear from those that wish to be elected as Police and Crime Commissioner about what they are going to do to ensure we don’t lose officers.

“We’ve only heard from the lone voice of Sir Mark Rowley, who has been open about police pay. We need more leaders to follow his lead.

“Interestingly, the forces that are having an issue with staff wanting to leave are those areas that bubble the Met, it’s time that the South East allowance was increased and factored into any pay increase we get.”

Read the full Hertfordshire Pay and Morale Survey report.