New Pay Deal ‘Won’t Reverse Long-Term Decline’

The 4.2% pay increase for police officers is a step in the right direction, but does not redress the long-term damage that has been done to police pay, the Chair of South Yorkshire Police Federation has said.

The Government announced the pay award on 1 August, but the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) said it would “barely tread water”, as it is only just above inflation.

Steve Kent, Chair of South Yorkshire Police Federation, agreed with the national Federation, saying: “I accept that some officers are content with this pay deal, and it is a positive start to redressing the balance, but it still doesn’t address the long-term damage to police pay.

“We need to have a conversation with the Government about how we’re going to get pay up, as it has fallen by nearly 20% in real terms over the past 15 years. That needs a structured, three-to-five year pay deal, above inflation.”

Steve said he didn’t think the new pay deal would help with morale or retention challenges in forces. He said: “It hasn’t had a negative impact, but it won’t rebuild Rome in a day, because morale is still low.

“Stress levels are still high, retention challenges are still there, and it’s going to need fundamental change in policing to address that. Even if we got a hypothetical 25% pay rise, which we know is a tall order, it wouldn’t address all these issues overnight.”

When the Government announcement was made, PFEW Deputy Chair Brian Booth said: “We note that Chief Constables argued for a pay rise of just 3.8%. We welcome the Government’s decision to reject that position and instead listen to the strong case we have been making on behalf of police officers across the country.

“However, after more than a decade of real-terms pay cuts, this award does little to reverse the long-term decline in officers’ living standards or address the crisis policing faces. A pay rise worth the price of a Big Mac per shift won’t stop record levels of resignations, record mental health absences, or the record number of assaults on officers.”