Members call on Fed to campaign for rights to pay negotiations

9 July 2024

It has been confirmed that the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) will campaign for collective bargaining and binding arbitration as part of a fairer police pay review process.

This comes after the Federation launched a nationwide poll in which 97.7 per cent of members who responded said they wanted the Federation to pursue industrial rights on their behalf.

Chair of Northamptonshire Police Federation Sam Dobbs said: “These results demonstrate how strongly our members feel about this. We support the poll which took place after the Federation’s National Council voted for it. This is not about a right to strike but will mean that the Police Federation, nationally, will now campaign for collective bargaining, the ability to negotiate with the Government directly.

“Of course, with there being so many trust and confidence issues surrounding our relationship with the Government, it would be interesting to see what they say and would want in return if they really reviewed our pay mechanism.”

Pay review process

Sam referenced the latest Pay and Morale Survey results, adding: “It’s no secret that officers are fed up that the current pay review process through the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) is weighted in the Government’s favour.

“On a local level, the current system is so unfair. Northamptonshire is an expensive place to live. Other areas where it is expensive to live benefit from a waiting allowance - this is not available in Northamptonshire, which we already believe is underfunded in relation to the national funding formula.

“Whilst I’m a police officer, I’m also a local taxpayer, so I’m very aware how much of our policing precept is funded by the local taxpayer compared to the national.

“You only have to look at our latest Pay and Morale Survey results to appreciate how fed up our officers are, with 87 per cent of respondees revealing they were worse off financially than they were five years ago - the seventh-highest percentage in the country.

“In addition, 20 per cent reported that they ‘never’ or ‘almost never’ have enough money to cover their essentials. How is this acceptable?”

As it stands, the PRRB is given its remit by the Government which can, for example, set a limit on the size of any pay award, regardless of the evidence presented.

Then, giving even more power to the Government, it can also ignore any recommendations PRRB makes.

“The current system is not fit for purpose,” Sam added.

Government

“Historically, the Government committed to giving police officers a fair deal on pay, but that appears not to be the case anymore.

“No doubt this will be a challenge for the new Home Secretary when public spending is under such scrutiny.”

The PRRB replaced the former Police Negotiating Board in 2014. But, where the PNB process included binding arbitration, PRRB does not. Its remit is set by the Government which can limit the pay award it can consider and over-rule PRRB recommendations. Under PRRB, there is no access to independent arbitration.

The Police Federation has made annual submissions to PRRB jointly with the Police Superintendents’ Association in the past, but has withdrawn saying it is no longer fit for purpose.

The Police Federation poll on industrial rights ran from 3 to 21 June this year and attracted 50,103 responses.