Morale Lower Among South Yorkshire Officers Than Nationally

MORALE among South Yorkshire Police officers is lower than the national figure for police officers in England and Wales, PFEW’s 2020 Pay and Morale Survey has revealed.

Of those South Yorkshire Police officers who responded to the survey, 51% said their morale was either low or very low. Nationwide the figure was 48%.

What’s more, 79% of respondents from South Yorkshire Police said they felt that morale within the force was low or very low. Nationally, 75% of respondents said the same thing.

South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair Steve Kent said: “The history to this is that South Yorkshire has the most demand for officers in the country and we’re also one of the poorest-funded forces in the country. So this difficult situation has been in the making for a long time. But there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, as the force is looking at doing what it needs to do.”

Meanwhile 47% of respondents from South Yorkshire Police felt that they were worse off financially than they were five years ago. Steve said that the pay freeze “was another crushing blow”.