The Police Federation Chair Richard HEWITT said the United Kingdom Government’s pay award of £1900 per Police officer across the board was a ‘small first step and long overdue’.
The United Kingdom Governments announcement that Police officers will get this pay award from the 1st September 2022 is positive news for those young in service and new joiners, but is disappointing for those in supervisory ranks who are also struggling financially, their pay award amounts to between 0.6% and 3%, making some feel undervalued and disheartened.
The pay increase awarded will help in bridging the gap between household incomes and the current cost of living crisis for those younger in service but not those of more senior rank where this settlement has fallen far short of what these officers need.
Colleagues here and across have already faced two years of blanket pay freezes, a 20 per cent real terms pay cut since 2010, and now huge additional cost-of-living pressures. The settlement is still below inflation, and Richard HEWITT believes that there is ‘still has a long way to go’ and whilst the pay rise offered for 2022/23 is understandable in the current climate we were hoping that it would be in line with the current rate of inflation.
During and after the pandemic Police officers across the island pulled in every resource to keep our community safe though they were subjected to a pay freeze. Richard has said “We want all workers across the public sector to get the pay rise they deserve, but police officers face unique dangers, being asked to put their lives in danger daily to protect our communities, it’s important that this is reflected in an ongoing way.” Richard says that his worry is that this award is divisive and devalues those officers longer in service. He said “This divide may promote a lack of incentive for promotion and whilst it is right that new recruits should be paid more than they currently are, this should not be to the detriment of other officers which is what the award may achieve”.
Many outside of policing will say that in comparison to other pay awards, we should be content, but that doesn’t take into account the huge real-terms pay cuts officers have faced for over decade nor does it take into account that officers cannot strike. As the Right Honourable Lord Edmund-Davies PC said in 1978: “The Police cannot properly be compared to any other single group of workers.” We hold a unique role in society and the nature of the work that we do makes it impossible for us to be measured against any other group of public sector workers. Of course, we want all public sector and professions to get the pay rise they deserve, but we as police officers are asked to put our lives in danger daily to protect our communities and who are asked to deal with the increase in acquisitive crime which will be a by-product of the cost of living crisis without additional resources. It’s imperative that this is reflected in an ongoing way, namely through a fair pay award, that is worthy of this commitment.