Almost half the Cambridgeshire officers who responded to a national Police Federation pay and morale survey said they worried about their personal finances on a daily, or almost daily, basis.
Almost half the Cambridgeshire officers who responded to a national Police Federation pay and morale survey said they worried about their personal finances on a daily, or almost daily, basis.
In addition to the 46 per cent who revealed they regularly worried about money, two thirds (66 per cent) of Cambridgeshire officers felt they were worse off financially now than they were five years ago and almost three quarters (72 per cent) said they were dissatisfied with their overall remuneration including basic pay and allowances.
The survey, which was carried out between June and August this year, also revealed that 89 per cent of Cambridgeshire respondents did not feel they were fairly paid for the stresses and strains of their job and 81 per cent did not feel fairly paid for the hazards within their roles.
One in 10 officers reported never or almost never having enough money to cover their essentials.
“Police officers have a unique role in society and in serving and protecting their communities often put themselves in dangerous and life-threatening situations which at times can result in them paying the ultimate price,” says Liz Groom, chair of Cambridgeshire Police Federation.
“While carrying out their duties and coping with very challenging situations they should not have to worry about their finances and should reasonably expect to be paid fairly and with a salary that reflects the risks they face.
“I hope that the results of this survey serve to show the Government that it’s time police officers were given a meaningful pay rise. During the years of austerity measures and police cuts, officers have seen their own pay cut in real terms and that is not acceptable.”
The survey also raises concerns about officer morale.
Half of the Cambridgeshire officers who took part in the survey said their morale was either low or very low, though this was slightly lower than the national average of 57 per cent. A total of 85 per cent said they felt Force morale was low, again just below the national average of 87 per cent.
The three main reasons given by Cambridgeshire officers for low personal morale were: pay and benefits (77 per cent), management of change within the police service (74 per cent) and how the police as a whole are treated (73 per cent).
A total of 61 per cent said they did not feel valued within the police. This compares with 65 per cent nationally.
More than half (54 per cent) – the fourth lowest return nationwide – said they would not recommend joining the police to others and 11 per cent expressed a desire to leave policing within the next two years or as soon as possible.
Cambridgeshire had one of the highest response rates for the survey with 40 per cent of Federation members responding, compared with 16 per cent nationally.
“I am pleased that so many officers took the time to fill out the survey,” says Liz, “While we appreciate that everyone is busy this is probably one of the most important surveys of the year.
“The findings are used by the national Police Federation when it makes its submission to the Police Remuneration Review Body which gives a recommendation on our annual pay rise to the Government and we also use the results in our discussions with chief officers and the PCC.”