Federation reveals results of 2024 pay and morale survey

1 May 2025

80% of Lancashire Police officers feel ‘worse off’ financially now than they were five years ago and 15% ‘never’ or ‘almost never’ have enough money to cover all their essentials.

According to the 2024 Police Federation of England and Wales Pay and Morale Report – published today - 87% of respondents have seen living cost increases in the previous month and 64% of officers are dissatisfied with their pay.

Worryingly, 16% of Lancashire Police officers who responded to the survey said they intend to resign from the police service either ‘within the next two years’ or ‘as soon as [they] can’.

Whilst Police Officers received a 4.75% pay rise in 2024, officer pay has reduced by a fifth since 2010.

Nationally 76% of officers responding to the PFEW Pay and Morale survey say their pay does not reflect the dangers they face and a third of officers struggle to afford essentials such as food, rent, or heating.

Officers are also struggling with low morale and lack of support, the survey found. 91% of Lancashire officers said they do not feel respected by the Government, and 48% said they were experiencing low morale.

71% of respondents from Lancashire Constabulary said that they would not recommend joining the police to others. 71% said they do not feel valued within the service.

Ian Lester, Chair of Lancashire Police Federation, said: “Police officers have been dealing with austerity and its consequences now for what seems like a generation, and in that time the dangers that they face every day have grown and their ability to run a household and put down roots in their own communities they police, have almost vanished.

“We know that poor pay combined with the risk of the job are driving people away from the police service.” 

Officers are coming under attack from the public too, the report showed, with 14% having suffered one or more injuries that required medical attention as a result of work-related violence in the last year.

Only 14% of officers who responded reported having access to double crewing at all times whilst on duty.

67% of respondents from Lancashire Constabulary said that over the last 12 months, their workload has been ‘too high’ or ‘much too high’. 6% of officers said that they have ‘never’ or ‘rarely’ been able to take an 11-hour break between shifts in the last 12 months and 36% said they feel ‘always’ or ‘often’ feel pressured into working long hours.

Sadly, 83% of respondents from Lancashire Constabulary indicated that they had experienced feelings of stress, low mood, anxiety, or other difficulties with their health and wellbeing over the last 12 months, and 47% said that they find their job ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ stressful.

The survey is based on 805 responses received from Lancashire Police officers.