Pay Must Take Into Account Officer Sacrifices

10 July 2024

The Government must remember the sacrifices that police officers make when determining police pay, Sussex Police Federation has said.

Chair Raffaele Cioffi was speaking after a poll found that 97.7% of officers wanted the Police Federation of England and Wales to pursue negotiation with binding arbitration when determining police pay.

Raffaele said: “The results are in and I am pleased to say that 97.7% have voted in favour of the Federation pursuing industrial rights, specifically collective bargaining.

“Police pay is significantly behind inflation, and officers and their families are struggling. The Office of Constable comes at great sacrifice to members and over time this has been forgotten.

“We are simply asking for fairness when it comes to determining our pay. The Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) conducts a comprehensive review of police pay every year and it is mostly ignored.

“We are asking for the PRRB to be independent and have the power to implement awards – similar to what our Members of Parliament have.

“We now have a Government who say they are for working people. Let’s hope they do not forget our members and the work they do.”

Calum Macleod, PFEW National Secretary, added: “This strong mandate from the membership sets us up to negotiate with the new government a fair and binding pay mechanism.

“Thank you to those who participated. PFEW’s National Council and National Board will begin creating a campaign for the introduction of a fair and binding pay mechanism on the behalf of our members.

“We realise a political agreement to change process can take time, but a new Government allows us the opportunity to take a fresh view on those issues that matter most to our members. We will keep you updated with progress.”

The poll, which ran from 3-21 June for Federated members, received 50,103 responses, with 97.7% in favour of wanting PFEW to campaign for collective bargaining with binding arbitration.