Force tutors may get bonus payments

10 July 2020

The Force Executive is considering the introduction of bonus payments for officers who act as tutors to new recruits.

West Midlands Police Federation has long argued that tutors must receive extra pay for their critical role in helping train, support and advise new recruits in their early days with the Force.

“I don’t think you can really put a value on the contribution an effective tutor can bring not just to the students themselves but also to the Force as a whole,” says Jon Nott, chair of West Midlands Police Federation, “They can make the difference between a new recruit progressing to become an omnicompetent police officer and them not reaching the standards we would expect of them. They help ensure that the significant investment the Force makes in terms of recruiting new officers and putting them through their initial training is then backed up with on the job guidance from a tutor.

“Without the skills and expertise of a tutor to guide and train a student officer, there is a risk that they won’t make it through their training and then the Force’s initial investment has gone to waste.

“As such, we need to attract the right officers to the tutor role and a financial incentive will help that. In recent years, we have seen some officers mandated to be tutors just because there has been a shortage of volunteers for a role which can be incredibly demanding, particularly when you consider it is something that officers do on top of their existing role. We don’t believe that is a good way to find the right people.”

A paper is with the Force Executive with a decision being imminent. The Federation is calling for any payment to be backdated to reflect the fact that officers have been tutoring Police Education Qualifications Framework (PEQF) students for some time.

The matter is being considered as the Force is undertaking its largest recruitment campaign for over a decade as part of the Government drive to take on 20,000 new officers over three years.

Tutors were among the roles that used to receive Special Priority Payments of up to £1,200 a year. These were abolished in 2012 following the publication of Part 1 of Sir Tom Winsor’s review of police pay and remuneration.
But DC Chris Smith, a Federation workplace representative who has acted as a tutor for around 23 years, interviewed for our Federation magazine earlier this year, believes something needs to be done.
“Ideally, the Force would have a cadre of skilled and willing volunteers. The role should be attracting the right people for the right reasons and, as an organisation, we should be able to retain those officers and their skill sets. Tutors used to be rewarded for their tutoring efforts and I think this is something the Force should look at again for recruitment and retention in the role,” he explained.
“Mandating officers to perform the role of tutor could result in an unmotivated workforce providing poor standards of learning.”