Kent Police Federation back the proposed 3-year pay rise plan from PFEW

12 February 2019

A 15 per cent pay increase has been requested for police officers over the next three years to help rescue them from a “financial cliff edge”.

A 5 per cent uplift in pay for police officers has been requested this year, followed by 5% in both 2020/21 and 2021/22 - by the Police Federation of England and Wales submission to the Police Remuneration Review Body.

Should a three-year settlement not be accepted, then a one-year deal of 6.2% has been requested, according to the submission made in partnership with the Police Superintendents’ Association of England and Wales.

Kent Police Federation Chairman Chris Carter said: “We are backing the proposal and I like the three- year plan because it allows officers the chance to plan and to understand what’s happening rather than going from one year to the next because nobody can build their lives around that.

“I welcome the PFEW’s words on the South East Allowance, too. In real terms the value of that to our officers has fallen by 15% as it hasn’t kept up with living costs.

“The Chief Constable has the discretion to raise it from £2,000 to £3,000 – we’ve asked for the 15% value in it to be restored. That would mean it would do the job it was meant to do.

“Officers are struggling to meet the cost of living.”

On-call allowance would also see a boost under the proposals; officers of all ranks should receive £29.17 a day to bring the payments in line with those received by staff members. And both the London and SE Allowances should be uprated in line with inflation, the submission said.

The PFEW’s National Secretary, Alex Duncan, said: “Since austerity began, we have seen years of no pay increases or below inflation increases. The level of police pay has now eroded to a point where police officers are worse off than they should be.

“41% of our members are saying they have not got enough money to cover their essentials each month and 45% tell us that they worry about the state of their finances every day, or almost every day. These figures should be ringing massive alarm bells with ministers.”

The proposed three-year deal is just the “start on the journey” to return police officer pay to the level where it should be, the PFEW said.

Mr Duncan added: “Since 2010, there has not been a single pay award that has kept pace with inflation. Based on where we are, another real terms pay cut, or indeed a rise in the cost of living, is going to exacerbate that situation and result in more officers falling over a financial cliff-edge.”

Eight recommendations have been made to the PRRB ahead of the oral evidence sessions scheduled for 27 February – 6 March. To see the submission in full, go to: http://www.polfed.org/fedatwork/3859.aspx