PFEW: Government must realise people will not forgive broken promises

National Chair Steve Hartshorn: Did our forebears make a mistake in trusting the Government by giving up our right to strike in 1919 against the promise of fair pay?Police officers have endured a 20 per cent real-terms pay cut for 12 years and the cost of living crisis has created a situation where some officers are seeking the help of food vouchers

Between 29 August 1918 and mid-1919 our country was thrown into disarray when more than 50,000 police officers under the guidance of the National Union of Police and Prison Officers (NUPPO) resorted to strikes after repeated calls for fair pay and work conditions fell on deaf ears of the Government.

A committee formed under William Henry Grenfell, 1st Baron Desborough, KG, confirmed the concerns of police officers. The Government of the day promised fair pay to police officers in return for giving up the right to strike and brought in the Police Act 1919, which also established by law the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW).

“During our Annual Conference in May, I asked the Home Secretary – Why are my colleagues one of the only groups of frontline public sector workers being punished? Today, I want to ask the Government – did our forebears make a mistake in trusting you by giving up our right to strike in 1919 against the promise of fair pay?”, said PFEW National Chair Steve Hartshorn.

“The Government must be reminded of this promise time and time again.

“Workers in other public sectors are taking industrial action over pay and conditions this summer whilst PFEW members ‘police’ the strikes. Our members cannot strike and seem to have no redress to this loss as the law currently prohibits such action by police officers,” added Mr Hartshorn.

PFEW recognises that morale amongst police officers is at an all-time low. They have been subjected to a two-year pay freeze at a time when other sectors received a pay rise in consideration of the risk and work they undertook throughout the pandemic. Police officers have also endured a 20 per cent real-terms pay cut for 12 years and the cost of living crisis has created a situation where some officers are seeking the help of food vouchers and others are struggling to afford to put fuel in their cars to get to work.

“All police officers want is fair pay. A reward that recognises their important place in society, for the dangers they face as they go about their duties fighting and preventing crime, enforcing law and order and protecting the vulnerable, while not having access to employment rights similar to other workers for safeguarding their pay and conditions,” said Mr Hartshorn.

PFEW acknowledges that officer numbers are increasing because of the Government’s Police Uplift Programme which aims to recruit 20,000 officers by 2023. However, retention and attrition rates are reversing the situation with a concerning number of recruits leaving within months of starting their policing careers because of the pay squeeze. In addition to this, low morale is causing longer-serving, experienced officers to quit.

PFEW’s survey of 57,451 police officers, undertaken in May, found that 93 per cent strongly agreed the Government undervalues the police, 65 per cent thought that the current starting salary for police officers would negatively influence potential recruits from wanting to join the service and 69 per cent had thought about leaving the service in the past 12 months.

The public mirrors the concerns of our police officers. In a national poll of 2,000 members of the public, also conducted in May across eight locations in England and Wales, it emerged that as many as 75 per cent think police deserve a pay rise in line with inflation. The poll also found that 74 per cent agreed that police officers deserve a pay rise that adequately compensates them for the risk associated with their work, 79 per cent agreed that dangerous jobs, like police work, deserve the pay to reflect that risk, and 72 per cent supported the Government giving a pay rise to the police at the next opportunity.

These are the views of the public – the electorate – and must be heard.

“The responsibility of any Government is the safety and security of the public but how can it fulfil its obligations when the police are facing such huge challenges caused by the unfulfillment of their promises.

We now have a new Commissioner of Police in the Metropolitan Police Service, a new Policing Minister, a new Chancellor and an experienced Home Secretary, all of whom know how important policing is to everyday life. It is time the Government values that importance and realises that people will not forgive broken promises,” said Mr Hartshorn.