Police pay: Chiefs and Home Office want 1% rise

THE Home Office and the country’s Chief Constables have called for 1% pay rises for police officers in 2016.

In their separate submissions to the Police Pay Review Body (PRRB), both have called for a small increase to police officer pay – matching the Home Secretary’s call that there will be “funding for pay awards up to an average of 1% a year.” This is in contrast to the Police Federation of England and Wales and the Superintendents’ Association who have asked for a 2.8%”.

A decision is likely to come from the PRRB this summer – which would then need to be ratified by Home Secretary Theresa May – prior to the pay rise being introduced in September 2016.

As well as calling for a 1% pay rise, chief officers in England and Wales have recommended scrapping the away from home allowance and all Bank Holidays – apart from Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council argues that – following the lead of Scotland – officers should not be entitled to Bank Holidays, aside from Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

Instead, other public holidays would be available for rostering, and officers would get nine extra annual leave days a year – this would affect officers financially.

“Policing is a 365 day a year, 24/7 occupation and the terms and conditions should reflect this,” PoliceOracle.com reported the NPCC as stating.

“Bank Holidays in many parts of the country are among the busiest times of the year for policing – for example, May Day parades, August Bank Holiday Carnivals, Boxing Day sporting events and New Year Celebrations all require police presence in strength to ensure public safety.”

It goes on to argue that “the increasing diversity of police officers mean that traditional UK Bank Holidays are no longer as universally significant as they once were”.

There had been a thought that the Home Office was seeking targeted pay rises for police officers – which would have created haves and have nots.

However in the department’s submission to the PRRB, it states: “We acknowledge that any pay award in addition to performance-linked pay progression would need to apply to all officers, since there is currently little justification for withholding the award from poor performers.

“We accept the view expressed by the police pay review bodies last year that poor performance measures are intended as a supportive tool to help improve performance, and that denying any uplift to this group in addition to withholding pay progression may disincentivise managers from using them. 5

“Taking into account these factors and all available workforce evidence, we therefore propose a 1% consolidated increase to all pay points, at all ranks for 2016-17.”