Federation survey reveals further drop in morale
16 February 2022
Morale is continuing to fall within the Force with more than half (55 per cent) of West Mercia Police Federation members saying their morale was currently low, up from 48 per cent on the previous year, according to the results of a new survey.
The survey, carried out across England and Wales by the Police Federation, has also revealed that 84 per cent of respondents in West Mercia felt morale in the Force was low, up from 76 per cent.
One in ten officers said they intended to leave the service within the next two years, according to the survey, and shockingly 12 per cent of officers from the Force said they don’t have enough money to cover the basic cost of living.
The survey also revealed that almost two out of five West Mercia respondents (39 per cent) worried about the state of their personal finances every day or almost every day, while 72 per cent of officers felt financially worse off than five years ago.
West Mercia Police Federation chair Sarah Cooper said: “These figures reveal the pressures that officers are under. The demands that are placed on my colleagues are unprecedented. They’ve been on the frontline of policing the pandemic, they are under relentless criticism from the media with absolutely no acknowledgement of the thousands of officers responding to calls for help from the public and protecting people from harm 24/7.
“My colleagues put themselves in harm’s way to serve the communities of West Mercia every day and our members are constantly expected to step in where other underfunded agencies fail, so the constant criticism and contempt shown to the police by this Government is soul destroying.
“Policing has become an utterly thankless profession with little recognition for the selfless, professional and compassionate work that my colleagues are doing day in, day out.”
Sarah continued: “In addition to these national issues, in our Force there are internal pressures such as an under resourced frontline, wholly inadequate IT systems, a lack of training and officers struggling with the current entry routes into the police with the demands these place on them. Recruits are telling me that they simply can’t cope, and those with families and other responsibilities cannot afford to stay when salaries and working conditions in other professions are far more attractive.
“Individuals consistently tell me that they joined the police to serve the public not to obtain academic qualifications, yet we seem to have completely lost sight of the importance and value of life experience and the personal qualities that are so important to delivering that service.
“The attrition rate within West Mercia speaks for itself, the time for lip service is over. We need to see a real commitment to improving the morale and conditions that officers are expected to work under. We are all here to do the job we signed up for, to serve the public to the best of our ability, but officers are being expected to do it with one hand tied behind their back.
“Every day I speak to members who have had enough and are looking to leave. Times are desperate, and pay and morale are key to ensuring that officers are able to continue to deliver an effective policing service. Officers need to feel valued and be recognised and remunerated for the unique role they carry out in society.”
Key findings from West Mercia’s survey report were:
Pay and remuneration
- 78 per cent said they are dissatisfied with their overall remuneration (including basic pay and allowances)
- 39 per cent reported worrying about the state of their personal finances every day or almost every day
- 72 per cent felt that they were worse off financially than they were five years ago
- 12 per cent reported never or almost never having enough money to cover all their essentials.
Morale and engagement
- 55 per cent said their morale is currently low
- 84 per cent felt that morale within the Force was currently low
- 68 per cent said that they would not recommend joining the police to others
- 93 per cent said that they do not feel respected by the Government
- 10 per cent said they had an intention to leave the police service either within the next two years or as soon as possible.
Workload and working time
- 6 per cent said that they have never or rarely been able to take at least one rest day per week in the last 12 months.
- 65 per cent said that over the last 12 months, their workload has been too high or much too high.
Sarah added: “We need the Government, police chiefs and policy-makers to act now. We are calling on the Government to work with the Federation on a new and fairer system for determining police pay to ensure officers are paid fairly for the critical roles they carry out and to help them recover from the years of real-terms cuts.”
