Pay Must Reflect The Challenges Police Officers Face

9 March 2026

“Without a path for the police to be paid fairly, the service will continue to haemorrhage experienced officers,” the Chair of Norfolk Police Federation has said.

Andy Symonds said that he was backing the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW)’s call for a minimum 7% annual pay rise for each of the next three years.

In its report to the Police Remuneration Review Body for 2026, PFEW said the multi-year pay settlement was essential to improve retention, morale and operational capability. It also called for a raft of improvements to officer conditions, including increased allowances and annual leave.

By contrast, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) is supporting a 3.5% pay rise if it is fully funded by the Government, or a below-inflation 2.5% if it is not.

Andy said the NPCC’s response was “disappointing, but not surprising”. He continued: “This is simply not fair and does not recognise officers’ sacrifices and continued hard work. They honestly believe that a below-inflation pay award is appropriate for the officers they are supposed to lead? Poor show! I hope and expect that the pay review body ignores the NPCC.”

Andy said that the PFEW’s proposed 7% pay rise for the next three years was “not a nice to have, but a must”. He said: “We’re seeing the consequences of many years of austerity on police budgets, which have resulted in many years of poor pay awards for police officers who are asked to do the most dangerous, difficult and harrowing work that the rest of society doesn’t want to do.

“Police pay is 20% below where it should be. Recently, we’ve seen the body that awards pay rises to MPs recommend a 5% increase, and they intend for MPs to receive a salary of £110,000 by 2029.

“All we’re asking for is to start the recoup of the pay awards we should have had over the past 12 years. We must remember that police officers have suffered the most in terms of degradation of their pay in the public sector.

“Without a path for the police to be paid fairly, the service will continue to haemorrhage experienced officers, which are a rare thing nowadays. And we will fail to attract the right police officers for the future, as they will look at the pay and conditions and think it’s not a career they want.

“I call on the Police Remuneration Review Body to properly assess the evidence and to recommend an award that is not based on ‘its all we can afford’. The recommendation must be independent, and recognise the pressures on officers and the history of police pay that has been degraded by 20%.”

The PFEW is also calling for:

- Full recognition of the ‘P Factor’ in police pay, to properly reflect the risks, restrictions and obligations unique to policing.

- Fewer pay points for PCs to simplify progression and improve competitiveness, including removing the lowest pay points to reflect frontline expectations from day one.

- Increase the unsocial hours allowance from 10% to 20%, for work between 8pm and 6am on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

- Acting up and temporary promotion payments should be paid from day one and made pensionable.

- The maximum London and South East allowance should be paid as standard.

- Increased annual leave, with any unused leave to be paid.

- A new long-service leave and recuperation leave.

- Workload payments to Inspectors and Chief Inspectors should be extended, with additional pay for hours worked beyond 48 per week, pending a full review of the 1994 PNB Agreement.