Pay rise reaction: frustrated chair speaks out

30 July 2024

‘Frustrated and disappointed’ are the feelings of Hertfordshire Police Federation officials this morning following the Government’s announcement that officers will receive a 4.75 per cent pay increase.

Branch chair Luke Mitchell has commented after the new Government announced yesterday (Monday 29 July) that it would accept the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) in full, meaning police officer pay will increase by 4.75% per cent across all ranks, as of 1 September.

Luke says that while he welcomes the pay increase announced by the new Government, he is frustrated that ‘once again’ police officers ‘seem to have fallen short behind other public-facing professions’.

The Government also announced that junior doctors will be given a 22 per cent pay award over the next two years.

Pay mechanism

Luke said: “Of course, we welcome a pay rise of any kind. This increase, coming on top of last year’s rise, at least, starts to close the gap between the 17 per cent real-term pay cut officers have suffered since 2010.

“However, it’s not gone unnoticed that the PRRB’s recommended increase was below that offered to other professions.

“The key issue here is that the current pay mechanism does not allow for negotiation. Unlike other professions, police officers are not allowed to go on strike.

“This is yet another example of the huge division between the pay of police and other public sector workers. And that division is only getting bigger and bigger - it’s no wonder the morale of police officers is so low.”

According to the most recent pay and morale survey results, 18 per cent of Hertfordshire Police Federation members who responded, reported to ‘never’ or ‘almost never’ having enough money to cover their essentials. 70 per cent said they were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with their remuneration.

“These figures speak for themselves,” continued Luke, adding: “It’s no secret that policing is experiencing a retention crisis. As a result of poor pay and morale, officers are not staying in the job, which means we are losing highly-skilled, experienced and valuable officers.

“As a Federation, we’ll continue to focus on getting a fair system of pay negotiation and arbitration that includes the voices of frontline police officers.

Restrictions

“We believe that’s the long-term key to ensuring police officers have better pay that takes into account the unique role that officers perform in society and the restrictions placed on their private and professional lives.”

The Police Federation of England and Wales no longer makes a submission to PRRB, saying it is not fit for purpose and does not offer an independent pay award mechanism.

After a nationwide survey, members have called on the Police Federation to campaign for industrial rights – specifically for a fair process of collective bargaining and binding arbitration – after a nationwide poll.

Luke said: “It’s clear that the pay review body recommendation do not understand policing and its needs.

“This highlights how crucial it is that the Federation sits outside a process which does not only recognise but appreciate the role officers perform day-in-day-out.

“The need for a new pay review system is more imperative than ever. Without a new system in place, we are at the mercy of the Government of the day.”

Other announcements include:

The on-call allowance will be increased from £20 to £25
The dog handlers’ allowance should be uprated by 4.75% and the additional rate for officers with more than one dog be raised from 25% to 50% of the rate for the first dog
The PRRB recommended that the chief officer of police in each force should be given the discretion to set the starting salary for new constables at either pay point 1 or pay point 2 on the constables’ pay scale. This recommendation has been accepted, but implementation will be subject to detailed proposals from the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) on the circumstances in which this discretion should be used, along with transition arrangements for those constables on pay point 1, to inform amendments to the Police Regulations 2003
The annual leave entitlements for officers in the federated ranks and recommended the time it takes to reach the maximum entitlement of 30 days should be reduced from 20 to 10 years, with effect from 1 April 2025 and phased in over three years. This recommendation was accepted, subject to the submission of a satisfactory Equality Impact Assessment by the NPCC to the Home Office.
The annual leave entitlement for new entrants will be increased from 22 to 25 days, with implementation taking effect on 1 April 2025.
The Home Office will provide £175m additional funding in 2024-25 to forces to help with the cost of the pay increase.