Fire Brigades Union members have agreed to a pay settlement acceptable to the workers of the fire service averting yet another industrial action. Police officers in England and Wales were the only group of emergency workers to withstand a pay freeze during the pandemic and yet they were at the forefront of saving lives.

Today, an exponential rise in the cost of living is impacting our members on many fronts while they continue to put their lives on the line day in and day out. In a rare case of support, which only shows the severity of the crisis, police chiefs and police superintendent ranks have backed our campaign for a pay award that takes account of the current rate of inflation and the unique responsibilities and restrictions imposed on officers’ public and private lives. Only police chiefs and the Government can set the pay for police officers, and we implore them to work together for the benefit of the officers they are responsible for.

The Government must come clean and adopt a uniform yardstick for emergency service workers otherwise ultimately it is the people who will suffer.