Police Officers awarded 2% pay rise

24 July 2018

The Government has announced that all police officers will get a 2% pay rise from 1 September.

The extra funds to pay for the award will have to be found from force coffers, it said.

The Government ignored The Police Remuneration Review Body’s (PRRB) recommendation that the 1% non-consolidated award from last year be paid in 2017/18 on top of the 2% award.

And, because last year’s pay award consisted of a 1% rise and a 1% one-off bonus, it means that officers are effectively only getting another 1% in their pay packets.

A Home Office statement said that ‘police employers had advised that the maximum affordable amount which could be paid would be the 2% rise’.

Effectively that means the rise can be considered as being just 1%.

Other public-sector workers including teachers will receive a 3.5% pay rise the Government announced.

The cash to pay for the rise in teaching salaries will be paid to schools by the Government.

That’s not the case for policing, meaning forces which are already having to make £100 million in savings, will have to foot the increased pay bill from existing budgets.

A Home Office statement says its recent £460 million injection into the police service, through Council Tax precepts will be used by forces to pay for the award.

The Home Office states that the average pay for a PC will now be £38,600 and that the increase is made up of a 2% increase for all police officer ranks, a 2% increase to London Weighting payments and a 2% increase to the dog handlers’ allowance.

The PRRB’s recommendations for recruits on PC degree apprenticeships was accepted meaning their salaries can range from £18,000 to £23,586.