Home Office Proposed Pay Deal Is Slammed

9 April 2026

The Home Office’s proposed 2.5% police pay deal “will do nothing to help the already low morale in policing”, the Chair of Kent Police Federation has said.

Neil Mennie was speaking after the Home Office told the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) that a below-inflation police pay award of just 2.5% was “fair” if no new money was provided. This mirrors the position of the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC).

But the Police Federation of England and Wales has called for a minimum 7% pay rise in each of the next three years to restore police pay, improve morale, and address recruitment and retention challenges.

Neil said that a below-inflation pay deal “will do nothing to help the already low morale in policing”. He pointed out that it comes on the back of a cut to the South East Allowance in Kent.

Neil continued: “The Home Office says that 2.5% is enough and has told the PRRB so, once again rendering the process entirely unfair. Spookily, the NPCC also says that 2.5% is ‘fair if no new money is provided’, in what could be seen as an attempt to deflect their responsibility back on to the Home Office.

“The NPCC is the employer, and will not win any support from the coalface with this out-of-touch view of what fairness looks like. Fair to who, exactly?”