Welsh lead backs Essex chief’s comments on officer pay

21 March 2023

Police Federation Welsh affairs lead Nicky Ryan has backed the comments of a chief constable who warned many officers were struggling to make ends meet and would be unable to carry on for much longer unless they received a fair pay offer.

Essex Police chief BJ Harrington said some of his officers were using a food bank run by colleagues at a police station in the county, 300 had asked for permission to take second jobs to make ends meet and many others were leaving the Force for financial reasons.

He added: “You can’t Taser the gas bill and you can’t handcuff the family food shop at Lidl. And you can’t arrest rising mortgage bills.” 

Mr Harrington is the latest senior officer to speak out on behalf of the rank and file on the pay issue.

The Chief Constable of South Wales, Jeremy Vaughan, called for a “fair” pay offer in his role as pay and conditions lead for the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC).

And Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said a large inflationary increase was needed to reward and attract the calibre of officer that his Force needed while the Police Superintendents’ Association (PSA) has also urged the Government to respond to a morale crisis across the service by reforming the pay mechanism.

Nicky said: “It’s becoming clear that policing is heading for an extremely serious crisis unless the pay issue is addressed.

Nicky Ryan has welcomed BJ Harrington's comments on pay

“Chief constables and other senior officers are adding their voices to the campaign for fair pay because they know the situation we find ourselves in has become unsustainable and  will inevitably impact on their forces’ ability to recruit and retain good and experienced officers.”

Nicky said years of real-terms pay cuts had been exacerbated by the cost of living crisis and increases in inflation and mortgage rates.

“We have police officers across England and Wales using food banks and relying on the generosity of family members just to keep a roof over their heads,” she said.

“That is the result of years of real-terms pay cuts and is totally unacceptable. It has to change.”

The Police Federation is calling for a 17 per cent pay rise for members after an independent study showed a landslide decline in police pay since 2000. 

The research by the Social Market Foundation (SMF) revealed real terms police pay has fallen almost 20 per cent behind inflation between 2000 and 2022.