Police officers under pay freeze react with mixture of astonishment and anger to the 2.7% MP pay rise

2 March 2022

Police officers – subject to a brutal Government pay freeze since 2020 – have reacted with a mixture of astonishment and anger to the news that MPs are being granted a 2.7% pay rise.

All MPs will get a £2,212 pay hike on 1 April, seeing an MP's basic salary go up to £84,144 a year.

Over the past 10 years due to ‘austerity’ based pay freezes and subsequent below inflation pay rises, police officer pay has fallen in real terms by 20% behind the cost of living.

Unlike nurses and firefighters, police officers were given no pay rise in 2021 with the public cost of the Covid-19 pandemic blamed by the Treasury.

Now household bills are rising sharply and National Insurance is going up in April – the same week MPs will receive their rise.

Officers have reacted to the news with fury – especially as the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, which sets MP salaries, said the politicians should be paid fairly for the responsibilities they carried, which ‘dramatically increased’ during the pandemic.

Mel Warnes, Chair of Surrey Police Federation, said: “This is yet another example that police need a fair and independent pay process. IPSA state 2.7% is the average increase in public sector pay last year, but Police officers did not receive a pay increase and had to endure another pay freeze in 2021.

“The Police have faced policing unprecedented times during the pandemic and we have not been recognised or rewarded for this. Fair pay for the difficult job Police officers do.

“Police officers need to see a significant pay increase to go someway to the real terms 20% pay cut we have seen over the past 10 years.”

In May 2021 the Police Federation withdrew from the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) after recommendations from the body were once again disregarded by the Government, seeing officers with no uplift in pay despite the efforts and challenges faced during the Covid-19 pandemic.