Sussex Police Federation Warn of Pay Crisis as Officers Struggle with Financial Hardship

19 March 2025

The Government needs to make up for years of police pay degradation and make a real commitment to officers, Sussex Police Federation has said, as it emerged that 64% of officers had financial concerns.

Metfriendly’s Police Family Finance Index Report (Spring 2025) found that 64% of police officers nationally had financial concerns, and over half (55%) said financial stress was impacting their wellbeing. Shockingly, 17% of police officers reported missing meals due to a lack of money.

The survey also found that a quarter of officers with one to five years’ service were contemplating leaving policing, citing financial stress and workplace pressures. One in five officers in this experience bracket are considering taking on second jobs to make ends meet.

Sussex Police Federation Chair Raffaele Cioffi has been having conversations with MPs across the county to get the message out that police officer pay has gone down 21% in real terms since 2010.

He said: “I’ve been telling MPs that the Government needs to start making some really brave decisions around police pay in order to address the disparities.

“Police officers are taking on additional risks on behalf of the public – risking their physical and mental health – but they’re not seeing their salaries going up in line with inflation. We are simply not getting paid enough and it’s causing problems with retention throughout the UK.

“We get officers through the door; the problem is actually keeping them within the organisation. There’s a cost-of-living crisis, especially here in the South East. Even with the South East Allowance, it still isn’t meeting the mark considering how much it costs to rent or buy a property in this area, and to take care of their families.”

Raffaele said it was “shameful” that police officers were being forced to take on second jobs to make ends meet.

He said: “The report found that 18% of officers with one to five years’ service are considering taking a second job. When you’re a police officer as your full-time job, that speaks volumes.

“You’ve got a PC who goes out day to day, sacrificing their mind and their body to serve the public, and they’re essentially saying that they can’t make ends meet. It’s a shameful position to be in, where we in the UK can’t pay our police officers an appropriate salary, and people are having to consider other means of income.”

He continued: “And the statistic of 17% of officers missing meals – members of the public will think, ‘Wow, really? Is that true?’. Let me tell you, it is true. We’ve got food banks in police stations, which the Federation and its partners support, to try and assist people. One week before pay day seems to be the point at which officers can’t afford to pay for meals, and are skipping meals, choosing between meals or getting themselves into work.

“Financial worries are adding additional pressure to what already is a significantly stressful role. It’s a really sad state of affairs. The Government needs to reflect on what they pay the police and make real commitments to officers, because at the moment you’ve got Governments throughout the world making some really brave decisions, such as the large pay rises in New South Wales, Australia. We’ve been talking about this for a very long time, but our Government doesn't seem to be taking policing seriously.”