"Police officers have seen a 16% real-terms pay cut over the past 12 years"

18 March 2024

Norfolk officers are facing financial anxiety on top of having a highly stressful job, and years of pay erosion means they need an above-inflation pay rise, Norfolk Police Federation has said.

Federation Chair Andy Symonds was speaking after Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley gave evidence to the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) and called for a pay rise at or above the rate of inflation.

Sir Mark pointed out that police officers had seen a 16% real-terms pay cut over the past 12 years and that the high cost of living was placing an even bigger strain on officers, as well as hampering recruitment.

He also asked for the lowest police pay point to be abolished, saying: “It is at the lowest pay points that we’re the least competitive with other sectors, which is why we’re also asking for the lowest pay point to be abolished, with more freedom to set starting salaries.”

The Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) has long called for the Government to consider the “P-factor” in its decisions on police pay – the element of police pay that reflects the unique obligations and responsibilities police officers experience relative to other comparative roles.

Andy said it was a shame that senior officers hadn’t highlighted police pay erosion years ago, when it first started happening.

He said: “I welcome the comments from Sir Mark Rowley on police pay – over many years it’s been eroded to the point that we find ourselves struggling to recruit and retain officers. It’s a shame that this message wasn’t put across years ago.

“The Federation has been the lone voice for some time highlighting these issues and we could see that we would end up here. We need a united voice on this when we speak to the Government, and slowly we’re seeing chief officers coming forward to voice their concerns.”

He continued: “Pay and conditions have a huge impact on the people I represent, who are the people out there dealing with the community. They are not robots in a uniform who should just be thankful for what they get from the Government. They are mums, dads, sons and daughters trying to make their way in life supporting their families while holding down one of the hardest jobs in society.

“That job expects that they put their physical and mental health at risk, to witness and deal with the most awful crimes and scenes that many others don’t ever see, let alone deal with. These are human beings who are required at short notice to work their well-earned days off due to operational matters. People who have to return from annual leave to deal with court dates or cover gaps so that we can police the county safely.

“They are regularly required to work long after their shifts finish and then return the next day after only a few hours’ sleep. They miss important family events, work on bank holidays and Christmas, New Year and Easter holidays. And all this without any rights to be able to cling to when they are treated poorly.

“The reality of the erosion of police pay over many years means that my members are having to visit food banks and rely on help from family and friends to make ends meet. This financial anxiety is on top of having a highly stressful job as a police officer. We need our officers to be able to fully concentrate on their vital work, rather than being stressed and anxious about how they will get by from one payday to another.”

Andy called on the PRRB to award officers an above-inflation pay rise, “to start making inroads into the pay erosion we’ve seen”. He added: “If that doesn’t happen, we’ll lose experienced officers who can earn more elsewhere, and fail to recruit the future generation of police officers.”