Police pay: A 2.5% increase is positive, but lack of South East Allowance news is disappointing

A PAY rise for police officers in Essex has been tarnished by the lack of action on the South East allowance, Essex Police Federation has said.

The Home Office has announced officers will get a 2.5% boost to their pay packets, which it said equates to around £978 more a year on average.

It billed the rise, which reflects Police Remuneration Review Body recommendations, as ‘inflation-busting’.

While Essex Police Federation says the award is ‘positive step’ it’s tempered by the PRRB’s recommendation that the South East Allowance should be reviewed further by the NPCC.

The allowance, paid to officers to help combat increased regional living costs is currently worth £2,000 a year to officers.

Steve Taylor, Essex Police Federation Chairman, said reviewing it was not a ‘good move’, especially given London weighting has been increased by 2.5%.

“We welcome the fact that the Home Office has adopted the PRRB submission in full and consequently our members will be getting 2.5% pay increase this year. It’s a while since we’ve had an award that large, and whilst we would like it to be bigger, it’s a step in the right direction. So that’s a positive.

“What was less than positive was the kicking of the South East allowance into the long grass. Unlike the London weighting, which they were happy to increase by 2.5%, they’ve suggested that the South East allowance can be viewed as part of the pay and remuneration package being looked at by the NPCC.

“This is not a good move, this is not a sensible move, and I’m disappointed that the PRRB has recommended as such,” he said.

It’s likely the review will take time to complete, Steve added, and he’s now urging for the allowance to be ringfenced.

“The pay review being done by the NPCC is going to take a considerable amount of time.

“It consists of a wide package of levers that Chief Officers, in theory, will be able to pull on. But I reject the premise that the South East allowance is one such lever. It’s in Police Regulations. It’s an allowance owed to officers.

“It’s certainly called for and it should be paid, consolidated in the award we get from Government. So, yes, we are disappointed about the South East allowance.”

The fact that the allowance differs across forces is also not helpful he added.

“Forces do different things – it’s pitting one against the other.

“We wanted it to be linked, rather than a set fee that hasn’t gone up since its inception – our amount has not gone up – we wanted it to be linked to inflation, index-linked like the London weighting is.

“And we wanted it to be for them to recognise it reflects the cost of living rather than just for recruitment and retention, because all too commonly forces hide behind, in my view, the fact that they’re able to recruit lots of people, therefore they can’t have a recruitment and retention problem.

“They seem to conveniently forget the fact that we’re losing people out the door, in some cases as quick as we can get them in the front door.”