Police officers continue to be exploited, says chair

29 July 2024

Rich Cooke’s comments come after it was officially announced today (Monday, 29 July) that the Government would increase police pay by almost five per cent while boosting junior doctors’ income by 22 per cent over the next two years.

The announcement follows 18 months of regular strikes for better pay from junior doctors, which Rich has called ‘exploitative given police are banned from striking and not even let in the room to discuss their pay’.

“I recently responded to rumours that police would be rewarded a five per cent pay rise - suggesting that better pay would help us retain experienced and skilled officers. But it cannot be right that police officers, who have suffered years of pay denigration are simply ignored on the same day junior doctors are told they will see their pay increase by more than 20 per cent over the next two years for the obvious reason that they have gone on strike,” said Rich.

Junior doctors

“I wish good luck to the junior doctors, I don’t blame them at all for sticking up for themselves. But it just exposes how weak our bargaining position is and how readily that is exploited by the Government. How can we expect to keep experienced, talented and skilled individuals in the Force when our officers - who, round the clock, put their lives at risk to protect our communities, get no recognition whatsoever in a rigged pay review system?”

Rich continued to say that although a 4.75 per cent pay rise is more than inflation, the Government should be putting in place a long-term strategy to restore the real value of police pay, which has decreased by over a fifth on average since 2000.

“Constables, as a rank, have been hit hardest of all, and, as a consequence, we’re experiencing a retention crisis, a catastrophic ‘brain drain’. Unfortunately, I think, today’s announcement will do nothing to ease that,” said Rich.

Pay awards

Following a recent poll, the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) will launch a campaign for a new mechanism for determining officer pay awards which includes collective bargaining and access to binding arbitration in recognition of the unique restrictions placed on police officers who, for example, cannot join a trade union or go on strike.

“It’s hugely unfair that unlike other professions such as junior doctors – police have no means of negotiating or uniting to demand better pay in such ways,” added Rich.

“I remain optimistic that the new Government will see the level of unfairness around police pay and, instead of continuing to exploit it, provide us with a reasonable, fair system to bring our grievances directly to them, across the table.

“Sadly, rather than looking at this pay rise as a reward, I’m looking at it as yet another way of exposing the weaknesses of modern-day policing and our ability to bargain for better pay.”