Police officers 'bottom of the pile' on public sector pay, says Fed chair

12 February 2025

The chair of Nottinghamshire Police Federation has renewed his call for pay restoration to ease the retention crisis in policing.

Simon Riley said that officers should be rewarded for the unique role they perform and the impact it has on their lives.

He said that pay awards for public sector workers continually left officers ‘bottom of the pile’, hitting morale and leading to officers leaving for the public sector.

Simon was speaking after the National Police Chiefs Council recommended a 3.8 per cent pay rise for officers in its submission to the Police Remuneration Review Board (PRRB).

Meanwhile, staff associations for chief officers and superintendents and chief superintendents have recommended a pay uplift of 4.8 per cent.

He said: “Police pay continues to lag significantly below where it was a decade ago and so this recommendation of a 3.8 per cent uplift for our members falls well short of where it should be.

“Police officers are simply not being recognised for the unique job they do, the very real dangers they face every day, and the constraints it puts on their family and personal life.

“Until that is addressed we will continue to struggle to recruit the best candidates and to retain good officers.

Kick in the teeth

“The fact that senior officers feel worthy of a bigger pay raise than rank and file officers is a kick in the teeth and suggests they don’t understand the financial struggles that some of our members are facing.

“We saw last year when it came to pay awards for other public sector workers that police officers were at the bottom of the pile.

“This is no criticism of our colleagues in other areas of public service, but is it any wonder why our members feel they’re not respected by the Government?

“It also shows that those workers who have industrial rights and who can withdraw their labour are in a stronger position than policing, which can’t strike?"

The Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) no longer makes a submission to the PRRB, saying it is not fit for purpose and does not offer an independent pay award mechanism.

After a nationwide survey last year, members voted to support PFEW’s call for a fair process of collective bargaining with binding arbitration.

Simon said: “It’s clear that the PRRB mechanism is unfit for purpose.

Fairer

“We have no negotiating rights and no course of action to challenge pay recommendations, which is why PFEW has been campaigning for a fairer mechanism to determine police pay.

“We need a process for setting police pay that is fair and independent, and where we are involved in negotiations as equals.”

Assistant Chief Officer Philip Wells at Bedfordshire Police is the NPCC lead for pay and conditions.

He said: “Below-market starting salaries for constables and real-term pay cuts for officers pose a significant challenge to attracting and retaining talented police officers.

“To deliver against the Government’s Safer Streets Mission and Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee we need to recruit, build and retain skills, attracting those people with the aptitude but also values and standards we need in policing.

“Our recommendations recognise the significant financial pressure facing both forces and government whilst advocating for the critical need for a funded uplift in officer pay, which reflects the incredibly challenging nature of the job.”

Download the NPCC submission.

READ MORE: New Q&A for police regulations.