'No surprise' officers worry about their finances says Federation

21 August 2018

It comes as no surprise that police officers are worrying about the state of their finances says Surrey Police Federation Chair Mel Warnes.

Results from a recent survey by The Police Federation of England and Wales showed that morale of police officers across the country was at an all-time low, with money worries being a big contributor.

In Surrey the reality is much the same. Half of Surrey Police Officers reported worrying about the state of their personal finances every day or almost every day, with 71% feeling that they are worse off financially than they were five years ago.

Mel said: “It’s no surprise that any police officer worries about the state of their finances, but it is a particular worry in Surrey. It’s an expensive county to live in and many officers live outside of the area, with travel to work being a cost in itself.

“Police officers are worse off in their pay packets than 5 or even 10 years ago simply because of a lack of substantial pay increases whilst inflation and cost of living rises.

“It comes down to the Government. They’re consistently ignoring what the Pay Review Body are advising them, having received evidence from the Federation around what the proper pay increase should be, linked to the cost of living. Until we get proper funding and proper pay I can’t see it changing for police officers.

It is clear that the financial worries of Surrey police officers is having a knock on effect to their work life, with over 80% of officers reporting that force morale is low. Mel was keen to reiterate that Surrey Police Federation is there to support officers when they are feeling this way.

She continued: “The Federation want to reiterate that the force offers a welfare fund which officers can apply for a grant or an interest-free loan and we’d support any officer going through that process themselves.

“The Federation can also support officers with debt management advice and signposting them in the right direction of getting help around their finances.”

You can read the full report here: http://polfed.org/documents/Surrey%20Pay%20and%20Morale%20Force%20Report%20-%2020-07-18%20-%20v.1.pdf