The Government Blocking Police Pay Rise Would Be ‘Absolute Betrayal’

If the Prime Minister blocks pay rises for police officers it would be an “absolute betrayal” and officers will leave the service, South Yorkshire Police Federation has said.

According to The Times, Rishi Sunak has said he is prepared to overrule independent pay review bodies for police, teachers and junior doctors, amid concerns that 6% pay rises could fuel inflation.

South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair Steve Kent said: “To be perfectly blunt, after the slap in the face of what happened in 2021 when we didn’t get a pay rise, this will be an absolute betrayal by the Government. It would be unacceptable and I think we may start to see police officers voting with their feet. That will have a direct knock-on effect on the public.

“After the catastrophic financial decisions made by the Government in recent times, to take this out on public-service workers who are working so hard would be unforgivable.”

But Steve said that it was nothing new for the Government to ignore the recommendations of the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB).

He said: “This is nothing new for us – it’s a constant threat. Because the PRRB is not truly independent and it doesn’t have the power to mandate the Government to give us a pay rise based on its recommendations, the Government has previously overruled them and can do that at will.

“Until that is changed, there is absolutely no point in the process. It is almost a tokenistic gesture to give the illusion of transparency and fairness, which is not there. The Government set its mandate, the Government can overrule it, so what is the point?

“I think we are already looking at a lot of people who are reconsidering their position within policing. Our police officers, as I’ve found from my research, are the poorest-paid police officers in the G7. Food banks are being used by officers who are on the breadline and are really struggling. Officers can’t afford to do this job anymore.

“And why would they, for the stress, the scrutiny, the risk of assault, the risk of litigation? I think we may start to see an acceleration of people leaving the organisation. In our force, the attrition rate isn’t particularly bad at the moment. But people’s mortgages will be going up by £200 a month on average, and officers are going to come to the position where they can’t afford to do this job.”