Delay In Police Pay Announcement Is 'Calculated'

24 July 2025

The Government has been accused of a “calculated” delay in the announcement of the 2025 police officer pay rise – as the service prepares for a summer of potential discontent.

As MPs across the country head off on their summer holidays, the nation’s police officers prepare for a busy period of work - with leave limited and mutual aid across the country required.

Memories remain fresh of the civil unrest of last summer – with fears similar scenes could happen once again.

And yet these same stretched officers still wait for the announcement of their 2025 pay award – scheduled to come in on 1 September.

Tiff Lynch, Chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said: “Anger is building. Every other public sector profession — from NHS staff to teachers and the Armed Forces — has had its annual pay award confirmed. Police officers, alone, are still waiting. With just weeks before the new pay period begins, there has been nothing but silence.

“It’s hard not to see that delay as calculated — an attempt to avoid fuelling discontent in a workforce already under strain. If that’s the plan, it is both cynical and dangerous. Officers don’t need a message of reassurance. They need action — and respect.”

She added in an article in the Telegraph: “Instead of strengthening our front line, we are continuing to sap its energy. More than 1,500 officers have been pulled from local forces to police a private visit by the US President. This was not a state occasion; it was a leisure trip.

“While he plays golf, communities hundreds of miles away are left without coverage, and already exhausted public order units are stretched even further. It would be comical if it weren’t so serious — and so familiar.

“Local commanders are once again being forced to choose between keeping the peace at home or plugging national gaps.”

This week it was revealed more than 17,700 UK police officers were signed off work over the past year due to stress, depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder.

It also emerged that 8,795 police officers left the 43 police forces in England and Wales in the past financial year - that's 6% of the workforce. The most common reason for leaving was voluntary resignation (53.1% of leavers).

Tiff concluded: “Through our Copped Enough campaign, we hear from officers who are at breaking point. Working relentless overtime, not as a choice but as an expectation. Taking second jobs to keep up with rising costs. Watching friends and colleagues walk away because the personal toll has become too great.

“Behind each uniform is a person — someone with a family, responsibilities, and limits. When officers are stretched to breaking point, the effects ripple far beyond the frontline. It impacts home lives, mental health, and long-term wellbeing. These are not just statistics or headlines. These are real people carrying the weight of a system in crisis.

“This goes far beyond pay. This is about whether the country still values the men and women who step forward when everything else breaks down. Right now, many of them feel utterly abandoned.”