Federation: Financial vulnerability of officers is terrifying

THE precarious nature of police officers’ finances is ‘terrifying’ says Essex Police Federation.

Officers are using food banks just to get by while an interest rate of just 1% could see some having as little as £75 to live on a month, figures have shown. Essex Police Federation Chairman Steve Taylor said he knew officers were also tied down with payday loans.

“Their financial vulnerability is terrifying,” he said, “and it’s an unspoken issue. How many officers have payday loans?

“We know how damaging they can be to your financial health. We know officers need food banks.

“These are symptoms of real precarious financial health and unfortunately when one’s financial health is at risk, we’re only human, temptation gets in the way, corruption can’t be far behind.

“I’m not being melodramatic about it, it’s a serious issue that we have to get to grips with.”

Steve’s comments come after Thames Valley Chief Constable Francis Habgood acknowledged that officers need fair pay for what they do. The National Police Chiefs Council lead said; ““We’ve got to a point where actually the compounding effect of either zero or one – or recently a two per cent increase – means some of them [officers] are really challenged in terms of their ability to meet the basic costs.”

Steve said the Federation welcomed individual comments on the issue but urged the NPCC to be ‘less cautionary’ about officer pay.

“Time and time again we see individual chiefs making useful comments but as an organisation the NPCC has been stunted or cautionary about the issue.

“It’s the NPCC that make their own pay submissions to the Pay Review Body. They are not as high as the Federation’s evidenced submissions, so while they’re saying that on this occasion, they think there’s a case for more pay, where was that case when pay submissions were being made?

“Why wasn’t it as high as it could have been then? So, trying not to look a gift horse in the mouth but…

“The NPCC were prime movers for the move away from incremental pay, so in one sense while creating some of the angst, they’re offering a solution to it.

“Well why don’t you just not create the problem in the first place?” Steve added.

Steve’s concern is that officers’ reporting financial woes is just the tip of the iceberg. He says the issue needs to be discussed.

“The only way we can do that is by being open and transparent and honest with one another. Who amongst us would put their hand up and say, ‘I use a food bank’? There’s a stigma attached to it.

“My sense is that financial vulnerability is like an iceberg, we only see a little bit at the top and we’re left to guess just how big the monster is under the water.

“What we’d love to see is the South East allowance reconfigured to reflect the cost of living in the South East in particular.

“It’s no good simply gauging the South East allowance on recruitment and retention because invariably one or either of those won’t be a problem, and unless both are an issue our ability to lobby for an increase in the South East allowance is undermined.

“Let’s get a South East allowance, like London weighting, let’s get it linked to the cost of living.”