Pay award is bittersweet for under pressure police

Despite some gains for officers in England and Wales, today's headline announcement of a 2% pay award will leave many angry and deflated, Steve White, chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said.

"Police officers do not join the service to make huge amounts of money; they do it out of a sense of duty and this year in particular have been tested to the max. However, they expect to be paid suitably for the immensely demanding role they perform and this simply is not the case."

The 2% award is a 1% pensionable pay rise across the board, plus 1% as an additional amount of money this year, non-pensionable.

"We asked for 2.8% and provided compelling evidence to support this, which on first review appears to be reflected in the recommendations made by the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) - the body which makes recommendations on police pay - to the Government. We were not greedy in what we asked for. Officers have been taking home about 15% less than they were seven years ago. While it is a step in the right direction, the Government should have done this sooner but we don't feel that non-consolidated pay awards are the way forward."

The PFEW will now be looking closely at the details in the PRRB report and will provide a further update as to what other recommendations have been made as soon as possible.