Pay and morale survey shows impact of pandemic

16 December 2020

The impact the pandemic has had on West Mercia officers has been revealed after the release of the findings of the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) annual pay and morale survey.

The survey was carried out across all 43 forces in England and Wales giving more than 130,000 Federation members their first opportunity to provide detailed feedback on how policing the pandemic had affected their finances and wellbeing.

It found that almost four out of every five West Mercia officers (78 per cent) do not feel fairly paid for the hazard faced within the job and 84 per cent of respondents from West Mercia Police said they don’t feel they’re paid fairly for the stresses and strains of their role.

Other key findings in West Mercia were:

Covid-19

• 42 per cent of respondents said the Force managed officers well during the Covid-19 crisis
• 70 per cent felt the Force kept them up to date on Covid-19 guidance
• More than a third (39 per cent) felt they had received adequate training on the crisis from the Force
• 41 per cent reported having access to adequate PPE when necessary during the pandemic while 40 per cent said they didn’t.

Recruitment drive

• Fewer than one third (30 per cent) felt the Force would be able to recruit the number of officers allocated to West Mercia as part of the Government’s plans to boost officer numbers by 20,000 over a three-year programme.

Pay and remuneration

• 70 per cent said they were dissatisfied with their overall remuneration, including pay and allowances
• One third worried about the state of their finances daily or almost daily
• More than half (54 per cent) felt they were worse off financially than they were five years ago
• Five per cent reported never or almost never having enough money to cover their essentials.

Morale

• Almost half (46 per cent) said their morale was currently low or very low –  compared with 61 per cent last year
• More than three-quarters (76 per cent) felt Force morale was currently low – compared with 94 per cent last year
• More than half (56 per cent) said they would not recommend joining the police service to others
• The top reasons given for low morale were how the police are treated as a whole (90 per cent),  pay and benefits (73 per cent), workload (both 72 per cent), pensions (67 per cent) and the Covid-19 crisis (65 per cent).

Attitudes towards the police

• More than half of respondents (57 per cent) said they did not feel valued in the police and just under a third (32 per cent) felt they were treated fairly
• 57 per cent said they wouldn’t recommend joining the police to others.

Intention to leave

• Nine per cent of respondents said they intended to leave policing within the next two years or as soon as possible.
• The main reasons for intending to leave were morale and the impact of the job on health and wellbeing (both 77 per cent), how the police are treated (71 per cent) and pay and benefits (67 per cent).

Sarah Cooper, chair of West Mercia Police Federation, said: “Every day our members go to work to protect and serve the public to the best of their ability.

“Every day they’re putting themselves in harm’s way, not least during the Covid-19 pandemic when they’ve been at the forefront of the efforts to contain the virus.

“These figures give a sense of the struggles and frustrations my colleagues are feeling and why their morale is being hit.

“While both personal morale and Force morale are reported to have improved since the 2019 survey, this year’s report should give chief officers and the Government cause for concern, and let’s not forget it was conducted before the announcement of a freeze on public sector pay so I am sure that will have an impact too.”

The Federation pay and morale survey gathers members’ views on pay and conditions, as well as attitudes to work and the police service. Since 2014, it has been one of the largest annual surveys of police officers conducted within England and Wales.

This year’s survey covered a wide range of subjects and canvassed views on topics such as pay, the cost of living, morale and the proposed police officer uplift.

Read the full report.