Police pay rise: Confirmation of a pay freeze this year comes as a slap in the face from the Government

22 July 2021

The Police Federation of England & Wales no longer has confidence in the current Home Secretary.

Following an extraordinary National Council meeting today, the organisation has also made a decision to withdraw its support and engagement from the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB), labelling the current police officer pay mechanism ‘not fit for purpose’.

The move follows Wednesday’s pay announcement and Home Secretary Priti Patel’s claim that the Government ‘recognises the bravery, commitment and professionalism’ of police officers, while offering no improved financial package to our members to illustrate that is the case.

During the National Council meeting, those present overwhelmingly supported a vote of no confidence in the Home Secretary and the PRRB process for police officer pay.

There is enormous anger within policing, with officers across England and Wales saying the Government takes them for granted and treats them with contempt.

The warm words officers heard from the Home Secretary and the Prime Minister at PFEW’s recent annual conference have not been backed up with action. Far from it. This week’s pay announcement essentially amounts to a pay cut. It is an insult to the thousands of brave men and women who do so much for their communities.

Mel Warnes, Chair of Surrey Police Federation, said: “Confirmation of a pay freeze this year comes as a slap in the face from the Government. Other parts of the public sector are receiving a pay increase, despite the Government stating there would no pay increases across the sector.

“The police’s contribution in the pandemic cannot and should not be ignored. Officers have put themselves and their families at risk, day in day out, with absolutely no thanks from this Government. Warm words just don’t cut it. The Home Secretary does not “have our backs” despite her saying so. I support the vote of no confidence in her.

“I support the Federation’s view and do not have confidence in the PRRB process. We need a more meaningful mechanism which is independent and fair. Police may have limited rights but the least we should have is a fair pay review process.”

PFEW National Chair John Apter said: “The PRRB is not truly independent, the body which is the only mechanism we have to consider any pay award for police officers, has its hands constantly tied by the Government who continually interfere. The PRRB itself recognises its lack of independence. We can no longer accept this and have no confidence in this system which is why we are walking away.

“We often hear the Home Secretary praise police officers but our members are so angry with this Government. They have been on the frontline of this pandemic for 18 months and will now see other public services given pay increases while they receive nothing. At the beginning of this pandemic they endured PPE shortages and were not even prioritised for the vaccination. They continue to be politicised and this pay announcement is the final straw. As the organisation that represents more than 130,000 police officers I can say quite categorically – we have no confidence in the current Home Secretary. I cannot look my colleagues in the eye and do nothing.”

For too long PFEW has also been forced to enter into an unfair pay process with the odds weighted firmly in the favour of the Government.

The PRRB’s lack of independence is something the body recognises itself and even highlights in its report.

With inflation set to increase to almost four per cent later this year, this is yet another real-terms pay cut for police officers in England and Wales and a huge slap in the face for our members who have been attacked and vilified while holding the frontline during this pandemic.

PFEW has tried its level best to be entirely co-operative in all dealings with Government. But this Government and this Home Secretary, for all their talk of how much they value what we do, have made this impossible. They cannot be trusted or taken at face value in the way we would expect.

As the undisputed voice of policing we say this to the Home Secretary: you cannot pat our members on the back for their heroic efforts with one hand, while effectively taking their pay with the other. Warm words are no longer enough.