Pay freeze may be lifted

26 October 2021

Suffolk Police Federation chair Darren Harris has welcomed the news that the Government is paving the way for police officer pay rises by scrapping the public sector pay freeze.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said it was right that public sector workers who played their part during the pandemic would see their wages rise now that the economy was “firmly back on track”.

Pay for most frontline workforces, including police officers, nurses and prison staff is set through independent pay review bodies which make recommendations to ministers.

Darren told BBC Radio Suffolk: “I think it’s really good news to wake up to. It’s welcomed. But the devil will be in the detail with regards to the independent pay review bodies and what they recommend.

“Lifting the pay freeze is one thing but now we need to see what the instructions will be from the Home Office on our part, to see what the pay review body can do and is allowed to give us. That’s our main problem, it’s not wholly independent.”

Darren said the impact of this year’s controversial zero per cent pay offer has been felt across the Force.

He said: “I met with police officers of five months’ service yesterday for a catch up and a Q & A session and the first thing they asked me was about pay and whether we were going to get a pay increase this year.

“Sadly, I couldn’t confirm that we will get a pay increase this year and I don’t think we will, although we are arguing that we should, but it is welcome that we will get one in the next round of pay increases.”

Darren said police officers did not join the Force to become rich but still needed to earn enough money to pay their bills and warned some were struggling with recent fuel and energy price rises.

He said: “I was shocked how much it cost to fill my car up yesterday. It’s a worry for the officers on lower wages to be able to fill their cars up along with the cost of gas and the other utilities. Everything’s going up and officers out there are struggling.”

But he insisted police officers would continue to serve with dedication, courage and professionalism.

He said: “We always hear that morale is low but the officers I met yesterday were in good spirits so we will carry on, get the job done, continue to support the public and keep the people of Suffolk safe.”