'Difficult for officers to feel valued as funding cut' says Wiltshire Police Fed

5 February 2025

Police and Crime Commissioner has refuted claims of low morale

Wiltshire's Police Federation says officers find it difficult to feel valued in the face of funding cuts for Policing.

The organisation has responded to Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Philip Wilkinson rejecting suggestions morale in the workplace is low.

A survey published in 2024 revealed that over half of people who responded from Wiltshire Police said they had low morale.

Federation chair, Phil Matthews-Dawson, insists officers are 'generally positive people' and that they 'want to do a good job'.

However, he did assure us that the public 'can expect the exemplary service that we're always going to get from a Wilshire police officer', adding that the Chief Constable and the PCC will be pushing to boost morale.

But, Mr Matthews-Dawson said their hands are tied: "When they're asking to be make cuts of that substantial nature, it's going to affect people. It's going to affect recruitment, it's going to affect kit, cars and all the other things that we need to do the job."

He told Greatest Hits Radio that the Chief and the PCC have an 'impossible mission' on their hands, saying that the primary asset of any business, including policing, is the people working for you.

He said: "You need your cops to be happy and the jobs that they're doing and feel valued and that's what needs to happen however, if the chief and the PCC are being told they haven't got the money to do those things, what choices have they got?"

A new survey is being completed into workplace happiness, with the results expected to be published in the coming weeks.

Mr Matthews-Dawson told us he expects similar findings to last year's report.

He said: "I'm not suggesting for a moment that our PCC or our chief undervalues the staff, but they're just not given the tools to be able to demonstrate that value well enough. They're not being given the finances to be able to improve the conditions for those officers. So they're going to feel undervalued when so much is being asked of them."