Fed welcomes pay rise with caution

30 July 2024

Suffolk Police Federation secretary Ben Hudson has given a cautious welcome to the 4.75 per cent increase for officers.

Ben said the increase, alongside last year’s 7 per cent rise, was a step towards restoring the pay degradation of the past 15 years.

But he also voiced his disappointment that the Police Remuneration Review Body’s (PRRB) recommended increase was below that offered to other public sectors – such as junior doctors, who were awarded a 22 per cent pay rise on the same day.

Ben said: “Our members have suffered from a real-term fall in their pay over the past 15 years of more than 20 per cent.

Recommendation

“This increase comes on top of last year’s seven per cent rise and while it’s welcome, it’s only a step towards pay restoration and not an immediate fix.

“While we welcome the Government accepting the PRRB recommendation, it’s disappointing that the recommendation was below that offered to millions of other public sector workers.

“For instance, junior doctors have been offered a 22 per cent rise over the next 2 years and good luck to them.

“Maybe it would be different for police officers if we had similar industrial rights to junior doctors and others in the public sector.”

Ben said that the current pay mechanism was broken and a fairer, independent system was needed.

“The current system does not allow for negotiation,” Ben said. “It only allows for a pay award to be imposed, which continues to leave us at the whim of the politicians and government of the day.

“That must change and we’ve been given a strong mandate to fight for that change in a recent poll of our members.

“We’ll continue to push for a fair system of pay negotiation and arbitration to ensure officers are rewarded fairly for the unique job they do.”

Ben concluded by saying he hoped that the pay announcement would help ease issues around recruitment and retention.

Essential bills

This year’s Suffolk Police Federation Pay and Morale survey found that almost three-quarters (73 per cent) of Suffolk Police officers said they were dissatisfied with their remuneration, with 14 per cent saying they never or almost never had enough money for their essentials.

Ben said: “We know from our own research and from talking to members just how much austerity has hurt officers in the pocket.

“Many officers have been struggling to pay their essential bills and it’s made some question their future in the service.

“I would hope this increase will go some way towards easing the financial pressures and, in turn, ease the retention crisis and help us attract top-quality candidates.”

Other announcements include:

The on-call allowance will be increased from £20 to £25
The dog handlers’ allowance should be uprated by 4.75 per cent and the additional rate for officers with more than one dog be raised from 25 per cent to 50 per cent of the rate for the first dog
The PRRB recommended that the chief officer of police in each force should be given the discretion to set the starting salary for new constables at either pay point 1 or pay point 2 on the constables’ pay scale. This recommendation has been accepted, but implementation will be subject to detailed proposals from the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) on the circumstances in which this discretion should be used, along with transition arrangements for those constables on pay point 1, to inform amendments to the Police Regulations 2003
The annual leave entitlements for officers in the federated ranks and recommended the time it takes to reach the maximum entitlement of 30 days should be reduced from 20 to 10 years, with effect from 1 April 2025 and phased in over three years. This recommendation was accepted, subject to the submission of a satisfactory Equality Impact Assessment by the NPCC to the Home Office
The annual leave entitlement for new entrants will be increased from 22 to 25 days, with implementation taking effect on 1 April 2025
The Home Office will provide £175 million in additional funding in 2024-25 to forces to help with the cost of the pay increase.