Pay and morale survey reveals impact of pay freeze

16 February 2022

Eighty-eight per cent of Suffolk’s Federation members think they are not fairly paid for the stresses and strains of their job, the nationwide Police Federation pay and morale survey has found.

The annual survey, conducted during November last year, also found that 75 per cent of Suffolk respondents believe they are worse off financially than in 2020 and 72 per cent feel worse off than five years ago. More than one in ten (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, and 71 per cent reported low or very low Force morale, down slightly from last year.

The survey revealed 90 per cent believe the main reason for low morale is how the Government treats policing. 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.

Suffolk Police Federation chair Darren Harris comments: “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 deserved pay rise, added to rising inflation, plus of course the forthcoming impact of the National Insurance rise, will not be forgotten by our members.

“My colleagues feel undervalued by this Government and morale is low. We are also seeing a growing crisis in mental health, which if it is not addressed will impact on the service’s capability for decades to come. So, my advice to the Government is do not ignore these findings, and work with us to repair the damage before it gets worse.”

The Suffolk results also showed 67 per cent of officers were dissatisfied with their overall remuneration (including basic pay and allowances) and 41 per cent worried about their personal finances every day or almost every day.

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.

Read the full report.