Concern as six forces go into special measures

6 July 2022

Any of the four Welsh police forces could follow the Met into special measures without urgent investment and better pay for officers, the Federation is warning.

Last week the Met, which is the nation’s largest police force, was told to do better by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS). Five other Forces are in the same position – Cleveland, Gloucestershire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire and Wiltshire.

The Met was criticised for “significant failings”, including inadequate responses to emergency calls, failures towards victims of crime, errors in stop and search, and poor crime recording – with almost 70,000 crimes going unrecorded in London.

Nicky Ryan, the Federation’s Welsh lead, said: “It would be foolish to believe that the problems facing the Met and a handful of English forces cannot happen in Wales. Thankfully, none are currently in ‘special measures’ and I sincerely hope it stays that way, however, the underlying factors of low morale, poor pay and underinvestment are all present.”

She added that police officer pay is at least 20 per cent below where it should be relative to inflation and is getting worse as the cost of living crisis deepens. Police officers have endured a pay freeze since 2020 are currently policing other striking public services while unable to take such action themselves.

Nicky added: “As we have seen in our most recent pay and morale surveys within the Welsh forces, our officers are feeling overworked and poorly paid for what they do. They go home exhausted and worry about making ends meet. If we do not urgently address these issues, we will continue to lose experienced police officers and fail to attract new recruits. That will impact on the quality of the service we can provide to the public.

“I would also call on the Westminster Government to commit to long-term funding of police forces to provide the financial certainty that is required for proper planning. Frankly, it is not surprising we are seeing police forces falling into ‘special measures’ in the current situation and politicians need to wake up.”

Nicky’s words are in line with those of national Federation chair Steve Hartshorn who has warned that policing is “on its knees”.

He said: “Morale is at an all-time low with a pay freeze, at a time when other sectors received a pay rise, this was particularly hard for officers to stomach. Officers have seen a 20 per cent real terms pay cut and the cost of living crisis has created a situation where some officers are being issued with food vouchers and others are struggling to afford to put fuel in their cars.

“At the start of the budget cuts, we told the Government that cuts would have consequences. We were told we were crying wolf. With six forces now in special measures, I would say we have been completely vindicated on this point.”