Page 12 - Federation Magazine: April/May 2018

Officers should have

a 3.4 per cent pay

rise, says Federation

fficers need a 3.4 per cent pay rise continue to be at a forecast of 3.4 per cent. In addition, the NPCC’s proposals for
according to the Police Federation of Going forward, we believe that even a officer apprenticeship pay to start at £18,000
OEngland and Wales (PFEW). relaxation of the government’s pay cap to were considered ‘a derisory offer’, which
The Federation has outlined its reasoning two per cent is unsustainable, and will not would ‘cause considerable hardship to any
for the increase in its submission to the attract and retain the right calibre of apprentice taking it up’.
Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB). officers.” The Federation and PSA sees no reason to
Any pay rise would come into effect The submission goes on to accuse the move away from their recommendation in
September. National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) of a last year’s submission that apprentices
As with previous years, the submission lack of transparency in the pay review should be incorporated within the existing
has been made jointly with the Police process and says there is an implication that pay scale.
Superintendents’ Association (PSA). the NPCC’s plans for pay reform are further “The NPCC has failed to provide proposals
Andy Fittes, general secretary of PFEW, progressed than the Federation understands for time-limited targeted pay, despite the
explained that the Federation’s analysis of them to be. It also criticises a lack of fact they have asked for targeted pay to be
the economic circumstances meant the 3.4 engagement by the NPCC, a failure to bring included two years in a row in the remit
per cent claim was considered to be in line discussions to the appropriate fora and a lack letter. We are dumbfounded as the NPCC has
with inflation and said the unconsolidated of involvement in the Police Consultative failed to provide any proposals, either in draft
The submission to the PRRB explains that “
one per cent element of last year’s pay Forum in particular.
increase should now be consolidated and
should not affect this year’s uplift The Home Secretary must act on the
“The Home Secretary must act on the
independent advice of the PRRB: doing independent advice of the PRRB.
otherwise last year has undermined the or final,” the general secretary concluded. “
credibility of the process, and the
mechanisms that this Government
introduced,” he said. Setting out the evidence the real terms value of their pay and argues
officers should see no further decline hence
last year the PRRB recommended a two per The 112-page submission to the Police Pay the need for the 3.4 per cent pay rise.
cent across the board uplift for officers which Review Body was sent to its chair, David “Over the period from 2010 to now,
the Home Secretary and government then Lebrecht. there has been a real terms gap in the value
decided be one per cent consolidated and It is the fourth time the Federation of police pay settlements (compared to RPI)
one per cent unconsolidated. and the Superintendents’ Association have across all ranks on the pay scales of about 16
It states: “This undermines the PRRB made such a submission to PRRB, the body per cent,” the submission explains, “Last year
process that the government introduced only which replaced the Police Negotiating the pay review body highlighted that the
four years ago; creates uncertainty for Board. pay differentials between police earnings
officers and Human Resources departments; The submission sets out the two staff and the earnings of those in other groups
and penalises officers for the NPCC lack of associations’ concerns about the Home such as associate professional and technical
progress. Secretary’s remit letter to PRRB and, in (APT) occupations had narrowed since 2010.
“Further, the impression given to the some length, sets out its evidence in Analysis of ASHE data for 2016-17 suggests
public was that officers had a two per cent support of its case for the pay rise. that the real terms fall in police earnings
uplift last year. This was recommended at a They draw on three main sources: since 2010 has been about four per cent
time when public support for the police and l Evidence of the economic impact of greater than for those in APT occupations.
recognition of their work was high following wage freezes and the one per cent “Although pay settlements in the whole
terrorist attacks such as that on Westminster pay cap on their members economy and private sector in the last two
Bridge; Manchester; and Borough Market. It l Evidence of officers’ attitudes to pay, years continue to cluster around a median of
would be shameful if that award were now the impact on morale, and officers’ two per cent there is growing evidence that
removed reporting of their working wage growth will rise significantly in 2018.
“We believe that the one per cent of last experiences such as workload – taken In this context police officer pay will be
year’s uplift that was not consolidated must from their own member surveys further squeezed on top of the current fall in
now be consolidated, and must not be l Data from the Home Office regarding real terms pay since 2010 of just over 16 per
considered to be part of this year’s changes in the recruitment and cent for all Federated ranks, 16 per cent for
settlement.” retention of officers. superintendents and 15 per cent for chief
It continues: “There is a body of evidence The submission states that officers superintendents.”
from the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy have already fallen significantly behind in
Committee and others that inflation is set to

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