Police pay will rise by 2.5 per cent in 2020 to 2021, across all ranks; the Home Office has announced.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “When I became Home Secretary, I promised to give our police the funding, powers and resources they need to keep us safe. We are recruiting 20,000 additional officers in the next three years and more than 3,000 have already joined.
The policing system has got its biggest funding boost for a decade, and now we are also increasing police pay by 2.5pc. This government is backing the police and as Home Secretary I will do everything in my power to ensure our police are fully supported.”
For the rank and file police body the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) National Chair John Apter said: “In the current financial climate with so much uncertainty, the fact the Government has fully accepted the recommendations of the PRRB [Police Remuneration Review Body] will come as a relief.
“The 2.5pc increase in pay across all ranks is a step in the right direction and, whilst it is less than we asked for, will be broadly welcomed against a backdrop of financial pressures on the economy. Do my colleagues deserve more? Absolutely, and the Government must go further to pay officers fairly for the unique and dangerous job they do.
“However, with the economic vulnerability we face as a country, many colleagues will be relieved to receive a 2.5pc pay increase – anything lower would have been completely unacceptable.”
Meanwhile the Government has announced a public service pension schemes consultation, to close on October 11. This seeks feedback for addressing discrimination in the CARE (Career Average Revalued Earnings) 2015 scheme and details the Government’s plans. As the Police Federation says, pensions remain one of the biggest issues to its members.
That 2.5pc applies also to London Weighting and the Dog Handlers’ Allowance.
For Labour, Anneliese Dodds, Shadow Chancellor, speaking of above inflation pay rises for public sector workers, said: “The Conservatives froze public sector pay for seven long years, and the rises they introduced after that failed to plug the gap. A pay rise for our police, nurses and teachers now is good news, but for many front-line workers it still won’t make up for a decade of real terms pay cuts.
“And many other public sector workers – including those working on the front line in social care – won’t get a pay rise out of this at all because the Tories haven’t made good on their promises to boost local authority funding. That’s not fair – and it’s no way to reward those who’ve been at the forefront of fighting this pandemic.”
