Fair Pay For Police: ‘Recruitment drive likely to fail’

11 April 2022

The current recruitment drive will end up being a complete failure if the Government does not urgently take steps to ensure police officers are paid fairly, says Suffolk Police Federation chair Darren Harris.

Launching a Fair Pay For Police campaign, Darren said he was hearing far too many stories of police officers struggling to make ends meet but that new recruits were being hit particularly hard.

“The issue for me is three-fold,” says Darren, “On a personal level, these new recruits are putting themselves through the recruitment process, securing a role as a student officer, often giving up their previous job and then just finding that no matter how hard they try, they just can’t afford to continue – or, and this is another problem, they are finding the demands of studying for a degree and training in a full-time and challenging role too much.

“Some of our new recruits are really struggling and some are being forced to make the heartbreaking decision to leave the Force, almost before they even get properly started. That is a personal tragedy for them.

“But from a Force perspective, we have to consider the cost implications of this. The Force will have already invested a significant amount of money in these recruits, in terms of the recruitment process, their equipment, their initial training and this is just money down the drain if they cannot continue through the training.

“But the third, wider issue, is how is the Government going to hit its target of recruiting 20,000 new officers in three years if this current revolving door scenario continues? We are getting people in but we are losing a considerable percentage of those new recruits.

“The recruitment drive will ultimately be viewed as a complete failure if the Government does not urgently take steps to ensure police officers are paid fairly.

“Police officers have been subjected to a 20 per cent real terms pay cut since 2010 and last year’s pay freeze was a kick in the teeth for officers who had given so much to maintain policing services and play such a crucial role in the nation’s response to the pandemic.”

Suffolk currently pays its new recruits around £24,780, which is higher than some other forces. This gives them a take home salary, after deductions and pension contributions, of £1,492.

Darren says this clearly does not really reflect the dangers officers face in their daily duties nor the challenges of their role.

The Police Federation’s pay and morale survey, carried out in November last year with the results published earlier this year, revealed:

• Eighty-eight per cent of Suffolk’s Federation members think they are not fairly paid for the stresses and strains of their job
• 75 per cent believe they are worse off financially than in 2020
• 72 per cent feel worse off than five years ago
• 67 per cent of officers were dissatisfied with their overall remuneration (including basic pay and allowances)
• 41 per cent worried about their personal finances every day or almost every day
• 11 per cent said they never or almost never had enough money to cover their monthly expenses
• Half of officers are suffering from low personal morale, a slight increase on the previous year
• 71 per cent reported low or very low Force morale, down slightly from last year
• More than half (54 per cent) would not recommend policing as a career to others, and
• Eight per cent plan to quit Suffolk Constabulary within the next two years or as soon as possible.

Darren said the findings made sombre reading, particularly when 90 per cent of respondents said the main reason for low morale is how the Government treats policing.

Other factors listed included pay (77 per cent), how the police are treated by the public (75 per cent), workload and responsibilities (71 per cent), pension (64 per cent), the Covid-19 crisis (59 per cent) and work-life balance 55 per cent.

Darren explained: “Police officers are realistic professionals who fully understand the public purse is not a bottomless pit, but the sheer unfairness of being snubbed for a pay rise, added to rising inflation, the impact of the National Insurance rise, and increasing fuel and heating costs will not be forgotten by our members, particularly when MPs have been given a 2.7 per cent pay rise.

“Officers’ morale is low and we are also seeing a growing crisis in their mental health. But the Government could help turn things around and fair pay for police would be a good starting point.

“Police officers hold a unique place in society. They run towards danger when others run away. They put their lives on the line to serve their communities and all too often they pay the ultimate price for doing so.

“They don’t join the police service to get rich but they do expect the Government to treat them fairly, to recognise the challenges they face and to do the right thing by them.

“If the current pay crisis is not tackled, we are all going to see the fall-out from this for many years to come.”