Pay freeze is ‘disgraceful’

25 November 2020

Rewarding the police officers and other public sector workers who led the nation’s response to the pandemic with a pay freeze is disgraceful, says West Midlands Police Federation chair Jon Nott.

The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, announced during today’s Spending Review statement, that most public sector workers would be subjected to a pay freeze.

“Police officers have been on the frontline throughout the pandemic, not only putting their own health at risk but also knowing that they could be taking the virus back to their own families,” says Jon.

“They have had to adapt to changes to Government guidelines over and over again and then work with their communities to encourage people to work within those restrictions.

“They have given their all and yet this appears to have been totally ignored by the Government. This is going to be a further blow to officers who have suffered 18 per cent cuts to their pay in real terms during the austerity years.

“We are currently in the midst of the largest-scale recruitment process for many years, after almost a decade of falling officer numbers due to Government funding cuts, but how are we going to attract the right calibre of recruits when officer pay is becoming less and less attractive, particularly when you consider the very real dangers police face on the streets?”

Incremental pay rises are unaffected by the pay freeze.

National Federation chair John Apter has also condemned the Chancellor’s announcement.

He said: “I appreciate the devil will be in the detail, but the headlines from today’s announcement do nothing to show appreciation to police officers and other public sector workers who have kept the wheels turning during 2020.”

John added: “A handful of officers will get the additional £250 for the lowest paid workers, but only those who are already on an appallingly low starting salary for the dangerous job they do.”