We Need Wholesale Review Of Police Pay
THE police pay mechanism needs to have a wholesale review, according to Hampshire Police Federation.
Chair Zoë Wakefield was speaking after new PFEW Chair Steve Hartshorn said police pay was his top priority.
When he was elected PFEW Chair on 1 April, Steve said: “Our members have suffered a 20% real-terms cut in their pay since 2010 and this will increase further with costs of living increasing substantially.
“The current pay mechanism is not fit for purpose so we will continue to fight on behalf of police officers in England and Wales. We need independent pay machinery, and we need Government to honour in full the recommendations of the pay review body.”
The PFEW has launched the #PayOurPolice campaign, calling for an alternative to the current unjust pay review mechanism, which Hampshire Police Federation backs fully.
Zoë said: “I think there absolutely needs to be a wholesale review of our pay. And to look at us in comparison to other careers. I know you can’t really compare anything to the police, but we’ve now got officers with 15, 20, 25 years’ service who are leaving to go to better-paid jobs in the private sector.
“Because we’ve had so little in pay rises over the past 10-12 years, people look at their payslips and think, ‘It’s not really changed in the last 10 years, it’s probably not really going to change in the next 10 years unless I get promoted or leave to get a better-paid job elsewhere’. And so that’s what a lot of people are doing.
“We’ve also got a lot of forces that are struggling to recruit because the starting pay is so low, so the whole thing needs a review, as well as then having a proper independent mechanism for reviewing our pay each year – something that is not interfered with by the Government.
“We need officers to come forward and explain how difficult it is for them. I know other forces who have said they’ve got officers who are using food banks to feed their kids. The Conference needs to be the springboard to continue this campaign.”