Chairman: Police pay submission should have asked for more

THE Police Federation of England and Wales should have asked for a better pay rise for officers, the Chairman of Essex Police Federation has said.

In their joint submission to the Police Pay Review Body, the PFEW and the Superintendents’ Association asked for an “uplift of 1% for all”.

But Mark Smith, Chairman of Essex Police Federation, said they should have asked for more.

“I understand that the Home Secretary had put out a direction stating the government would only give 1% anyway. So the PFEW has tried to go along those lines to keep the Home Secretary happy. I think that’s wrong,” he said.

“We should have asked for more. If they only give us one per cent, then they give us one per cent.”

Home Secretary Theresa May made it clear that recommendations needed to “have regard to government policy on public sector pay for 2015/16 being an average of up to 1%”.

Mr Smith described the direction as “insulting” to officers.

“That’s not negotiation, that’s enforcing,” he said. “I think the government is insulting police officers. With the current cost of living and with other allowances being taken away, officers are not even going to see the difference in their pay packets.”

In their joint submission to the Police Pay Review Body, the PFEW and the Superintendents’ Association asked that more “appropriate adjustments” are made in future years “to ensure officers are not left behind others when the UK economy is more buoyant”.

The PFEW asked for an “uplift of 1% for all, including officers who receive an increment: to basic pay, existing regional allowances, and all allowances that are normally included in uplifts, such as Dog Handlers’ allowance”.

It added: “This is based on our recognition of the Government’s intent, and the need for public sector austerity; and our concern that there should be no further divisive pay changes, such as increases for some but not others, without there being an evidence base modelling likely impact.”