Branch chair Nick Munnelly has backed calls for the Government to demonstrate its support for police officers by restoring pay to a level that properly reflects the vital work they undertake.
The Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) has submitted its report to the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB), recommending a minimum seven per cent annual pay award for officers over the next three years.
The submission also highlights serious concerns around morale, retention and operational capability. The PFEW argues that these issues have been driven by the steady erosion of police pay over the past 15 years, placing the service on what it describes as a ‘downward spiral’.
During this period, officers have experienced a real-terms pay cut of more than 20 per cent – a gap the proposed pay award would begin to address if implemented.
Police pay
The PFEW’s submission follows:
- The Government’s remit letter to the PRRB, which states that recommendations must reflect affordability within existing funding settlements
- Indications from the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) that it would support a 3.5 per cent pay award only if fully funded, reducing to 2.5 per cent if not.
Responding to the proposal, Nick said: “I strongly support the views expressed in this report, which echo what so many across policing have been saying for far too long: the expectations placed on officers and the pay they receive simply do not align.
“The Government must stop treating this as a negotiation and start treating it as a responsibility to those serving our communities.
“Officers are juggling more than ever – crime, public expectation, mental health pressures – and now financial strain on top of that. It’s unsustainable. We’ve said it for years, but until action follows words, our members will continue to be under significant stress.
“These men and women put themselves in harm’s way every day. If we cannot meet them with respect and proper remuneration, we’re failing both the workforce and the public they serve.
Reports
“How many reports, reviews, or proposals does it take before the Government wakes up? Our members cannot wait any longer. They deserve certainty, fairness, and respect – now, not next year.
“I really do not want to be making these same calls in 12 months.”
In the build-up to the report being finalised, Policing Minister Sarah Jones MP went on record in Parliament to say she wanted the police workforce to ‘be in no doubt’ the Government was ‘on your side and will support you’.
Nick argued that, while encouraging, these words will only have an impact if they are backed by action.
He continued: “The overriding sentiment within the profession that the Government takes the police for granted hasn’t come from nowhere, so only meaningful action will do to start turning that around.
Policing Minister Sarah Jones MP
“Officers have been given assurances which haven’t amounted to anything before, and they rightfully demand a lot more than that.”
PFEW national secretary John Partington said: “If affordability within existing budgets becomes the ceiling for police pay, we are guaranteeing a broken service.
“It is neither fair to officers nor affordable to the public who pay the cost of crime and reduced safety.
“A properly independent review body must determine what resources proper policing really needs, not simply how much more blood can be squeezed from the stone.”
He also stated that it was disappointing that the NPCC had shown it was ready to accept such a low settlement.
Pay cut
He added: “Officers will be putting their health and their lives on the line this weekend knowing their chiefs are recommending what is in effect a real-terms pay cut.
“Chief constables should be honest with the people they are supposed to lead: they are endorsing another reduction in officers’ living standards, one which has obvious and severe consequences.
“You cannot demand more courage, more resilience and more personal risk while steadily reducing the value of the job.
“Brave and dedicated men and women are leaving policing in record numbers because it no longer pays enough to justify the cost to them and their families.”
Meanwhile, the PFEW is also asking for structural reform of police remuneration, including the introduction of a military-style ‘P Factor’ recognising the unique risks, restrictions and psychological trauma inherent in policing.
Evidence submitted to the PRRB shows:
- Almost half of all constables have five years’ service or less
- Mental health-related sickness absence is at record levels
- Assaults on officers remain persistently high
READ MORE: Fed rep aims to equip colleagues with life-saving suicide prevention skills.