Police staff pay freeze 'deeply insulting'

Unions representing police staff, including control room operatives, 999 calls handlers and forensic specialists, have written to the home secretary Priti Patel asking her to urgently reconsider the decision to impose a pay freeze on the majority of police staff this year.

In July, the Police Staff Council decided that police staff earning over £24,000 a year would have their pay frozen for 2021/22, with those earning below that figure receiving an increase of just £250 a year.

In their letter, the unions highlight that police staff are the only group of emergency responders to have had a pay freeze imposed on them. NHS emergency responders have been offered a three per cent pay increase, while firefighters will receive a 1.5 per cent pay rise.

Police staff, who continued to work throughout the pandemic, often in very difficult and trying conditions, are particularly incensed at the pay freeze after the home secretary wrote to them last November thanking them for their “tireless work” and describing “control room staff in particular as the unsung heroes of the crisis”.

The letter to Ms Patel states, “Not surprisingly, our members now wonder what has happened to the government’s sense of gratitude for the work they carry out 24/7 to keep our communities safe. Put simply, thanks won’t pay the bills.

Unite national officer Jim Kennedy said, “Police staff have constantly gone the extra mile to keep the general public safe throughout the pandemic. To reward that dedication with a pay freeze is deeply insulting.

“Workers in the other emergency services will receive a pay increase this year and the government has a moral duty to reverse this grossly unfair decision and deliver a pay increase for police staff.”

With the RPI inflation rate for July being recorded at 3.8 per cent, the pay freeze is a very substantial cut in real terms for police staff.

By Barckley Sumner