Chair’s concerns: Retention will get worse unless pay improves

27 March 2024

The chair of Nottinghamshire Police Federation fears the retention crisis in policing will continue to get worse unless officers receive a fair pay settlement.

Simon Riley was commenting on a new survey which revealed that one in five (22 per cent) police officers are planning to quit the service.

Of those who plan to quit, morale (85 per cent), poor treatment from the government (78 per cent), their mental health and wellbeing (73 per cent), and pay (70 per cent) were cited as key factors.

The figures are revealed in the latest Police Federation for England and Wales’s (PFEW) national pay and morale survey.

PFEW said that more than 9,000 officers resigned in the year ending March 2023, the highest number of leavers in a financial year since comparable records began.

Simon said: “We’ve always said that cuts have consequences and officers have had their pay and conditions attacked for the past decade, so it’s no surprise that many are now leaving or thinking of leaving.

“Our members are busier than ever, dealing with more complex crime than ever, and they feel undervalued for the fantastic work they’re doing.

“The Government could improve morale in a stroke by giving officers a fair pay settlement.

“But until that happens, my worry is that retention and recruitment of police officers is going to get worse.

“We also need the introduction of a transparent and fully independent pay review process that allows the Federation to negotiate on behalf of members.

“Police officers don’t have the same industrial rights as other public sector workers and it feels we’re lagging behind because of that.

“This is why PFEW has been seeking other options and pushing for a membership ballot to ask if it should pursue industrial rights.”

The PFEW pay and morale survey found 85 per cent of respondents feel they are not fairly paid given the hazards they face within their job, up from 78 per cent in 2018.

That is illustrated by 15 per cent reporting they had suffered one or more injuries that required medical attention because of work-related violence in the last year.

More than three quarters (78 per cent) of police officers disclosed they are ‘dissatisfied’ or ‘very dissatisfied’ with their overall remuneration (including basic pay and allowances), while 18 per cent reported ‘never’ or ‘almost never’ having enough money to cover all their essentials.

More than half (58 per cent) of respondents feel their morale is ‘low’ or ‘very low’, while 87 per cent feel morale within their force is currently ‘low’ or ‘very low’. 

More than two-thirds (82 per cent) indicated they had experienced feelings of stress, low mood, anxiety or other problems with their mental health and wellbeing over the last 12 months.

Other findings include:
•    95 per cent said how the police are treated by the Government had a negative impact on their morale.
•    81 per cent said their pay had a negative impact on their morale.
•    73 per cent said they would not recommend joining the police to others.
•    71 per cent said they did not feel valued within the police.
•    92 per cent of respondents feel they are not fairly paid given the stresses and strains of their job.
•    86 per cent said they do not feel there are enough officers to meet the demands of their team or unit.
•    64 per cent said their workload has been ‘too high’ or ‘much too high’ over the last 12 months.
•    39 per cent said their workload being too high had an impact on their mental health and wellbeing.

PFEW national chair Steve Hartshorn said: “At a critical time where the police service is looking to rebuild eroded public confidence, a sustained recruitment and retention programme is needed to meet demand and deliver. The numbers we currently have are not enough and we are haemorrhaging officers.

“We do not need to scratch our heads wondering why they are quitting, because the evidence is right here, with unfair pay at the centre of it all.

“A fair pay mechanism is urgently needed, namely the ‘P-Factor’, a payment for remunerating officers for the harm they may encounter while carrying out their duties among other restrictions. It is there to address a series of unique issues experienced by police officers, and independent research agrees with this positioning.

“To help the Government understand these unique challenges to policing, PFEW is undertaking its own review of the P-Factor design and formula to support our campaigning on this matter.

“The survey findings ultimately demonstrate the need for committed action, and a vote for the members to make a decision around whether they want to seek greater industrial rights, specifically collective bargaining and binding arbitration in relation to pay and conditions, will be held as soon as is practicable this year.”

Read the full survey.

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