MPs Must Engage With Campaign On Police Pay And Conditions

The Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) has stepped up its engagement with Parliament by taking its ‘Copped Enough’ campaign to party conferences and pressing for urgent reforms.

PFEW is calling for fair pay, officer protection and action on police mental health. A major part of the campaign is asking for a closure of the 21% pay gap since 2010 and for the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) process to allow for consultation, collective bargaining and binding arbitration to determine police officer pay.

Many MPs and peers are taking the time to engage with PFEW and understand the challenges facing policing, including the fact that many officers are now effectively earning a fifth less in real terms than they did a decade ago.

South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair Steve Kent said: “I fully support this campaign, as the pay gap is the biggest thing that affects our officers’ morale and standard of living.

“I’ve been pushing for police officers to have industrial rights from the start, and this is a natural progression from that. It won’t replace conversations and meetings with MPs, but it works hand-in-hand with the industrial rights campaign to push the agenda and get officers back to pay parity as soon as possible. It also recognises the restrictions and the difficulties in the job that police officers do.”

Steve added: “I’m glad that MPs are engaging with it, but they need to do a bit better. I’ve reached out to MPs in our force area and I get some replies, but I don’t hear from others, so I’ll be continuing to try to engage with our MPs on this.”