Police pay demands stepped up amid public sector salary warnings

30 June 2023

Suffolk Police Federation has urged the Government to meet its 17 per cent pay claim amid growing fears of a public sector pay squeeze.

Branch chair Darren Harris spoke out after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak warned he could be making some unpopular decisions as he tries to bring down  inflation.

Darren said members would not accept a low offer after several years of real-terms cuts and rejected suggestions public sector pay should be pegged back to help the Government with inflation.

He said: “Our members have been asked to accept low or zero per cent pay rises for too long and that has to change.

“We have called for a 17 per cent increase this year to help redress the balance after more than a decade of real-terms pay cuts.

“The figure is not unreasonable because it also takes into account the current cost of living crisis which has seen some of our members struggling with soaring food prices, household bills and rising mortgage repayments.

“The Government would be very unwise to hold back public sector pay to try to bring down inflation because it is the public sector that has been taking the hits since 2010.

“We are not allowed to take industrial action to press home our demands for fair pay and as a result have always been the poor relation when it comes to pay settlements.

“Our pay has been lagging behind our colleagues in other emergency services for too long and it is time to say enough is enough.”

Mr Sunak said he would not shy away from making decisions “people may not like” as he vowed to halve inflation by the end of the year.

He said inflation was “higher than we’d like” and insisted it was important to “make the right and responsible decisions on things like public sector pay”.

The Prime Minister also refused to commit to accepting recommendations for public sector pay rises from independent pay review bodies as part of the Government’s economic strategy.

Pay review body recommendations are not legally binding on the Government and, although they are typically accepted, ministers can choose to reject or partially ignore the advice.

This would be a controversial move after the Government defended last year’s below-inflation pay rises by saying it had followed the bodies’ advice.

The Police Federation withdrew its support for the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) and branded it unfit for purpose after the 2021 pay freeze.

The latest skirmish in the long-running pay row comes after the Police Federation announced it would ballot members on whether the organisation should pursue industrial rights on their behalf.