Police officers ‘will leave’ if pay rise not high enough after last year’s wage freeze

The chairman of the Leicestershire Police Federation has warned that officers will leave the force if their next pay rise is not in line with inflation.

Most officers had no pay rise at all last year as the government fought to balance the books due to the ongoing expense of the pandemic.

But with fuel prices rising and inflation high, Adam Commons has warned there needed to be a reasonable pay rise to keep officers from leaving.

In a post on social media, he said: “We are in a cost-of-living crisis with inflation sitting at 4 per cent, fuel prices at their highest on record and utility prices climbing.

“I’ve never known morale as low as it is now, and if my colleagues receive what will essentially be yet another cut to their pay in 2022, I am genuinely concerned where that will leave us – in terms of people exiting the service.”

The national Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) comes up with the recommended pay rise for police each year, but the Home Secretary has the final say. Priti Patel has recently written to the PRRB reminding it of the government’s desire to “balance the need to ensure fair pay for public sector workers with protecting funding for frontline services and ensuring affordability for taxpayers”.

But the letter has angered the federation, because it believes the Home Secretary appears to be trying to influence the PRRB decision.

Mr Commons said: “Not that we needed further proof, but I think this shows my colleagues again why we have pulled away from the PRRB process.