The chair of Cambridgeshire Police Federation says members have every right to be angry at the Government’s zero per cent offer after new figures revealed an annual hike in UK average pay of 7.4 per cent.
Liz Groom says the new Office for National Statistics data is a kick in the teeth for members who have been on the frontline throughout the pandemic.
The new figures showed growth in average total pay (including bonuses) was 8.8 per cent, and 7.4 per cent for regular pay (excluding bonuses) in the period between April and June. It also highlighted a record high in the number of UK job vacancies.
Liz said: “These figures are in total contrast to the zero per cent offer that hard-working officers – who have braved and sacrificed so much during the pandemic – have received from this Government.
“Our members have every right to be angry and frustrated at the situation. It doesn’t feel fair.
“And while pay goes up in other areas of the economy, policing will be seen as an un attractive option making it more difficult to recruit the new officers that we desperately need and, as importantly, to retain our experienced colleagues.”
Ché Donald, national vice-chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales, has also reacted to the ONS figures.
He said: “My colleagues will be dismayed by the news that some sectors are clearly receiving sky high wage rises while police officers receive nothing. They will be fully justified in feeling further betrayed by the unfairness of this news.
“Police officers who were on the frontline of the pandemic have already seen firefighters and local government workers in England given a 1.5 per cent increase.
“The ONS has now said the UK employment situation has been rebounding ‘robustly,’ and this new data will be viewed as further evidence all sectors were not treated equally by this government.
“It is yet another example of why we have lost confidence in a government which deliberately took full advantage of our unique status as public servants without the same employment rights as other members of society.”