MAIN FEATURE


• Fewer pay points for constables, including removal of the lowest starting


recognising the dangers, limitations and obligations unique to policing.


points to reflect frontline expectations from day one.


Allowances


• Unsocial hours allowance raised from 10 per cent to 20 per cent for Friday–


• Modernised acting up and temporary promotion payments, pensionable and


Sunday nights.


• London and South East allowances paid at the maximum rate, ending chief


paid from day one.


• Revised protection allowances to ensure fairness and consistency.


officer discretion.


• Nearly half of all constables now have five years’ service or less.


• One in four officers are actively considering leaving the service.


• Mental health-related sickness is at record levels.


• Officers are assaulted every ten. minutes; around 30 are injured daily.


Regulations and Wellbeing


disappointing” to see police chiefs signalling their willingness to accept what amounts to another real terms cut. “Officers will be putting their lives on the line knowing their chiefs are recommending another reduction in


• Increased annual leave, with payment for unused days.


• Introduction of long-service leave and recuperation leave.


• Paid compensation or TOIL for all court warnings, regardless of notice.


In some forces, the staffing profile is so fragile that probationers are training probationers, a situation unheard of in any other safety- critical profession. Yet, despite this, officers continue to shoulder rising demand, unprecedented workloads and constant scrutiny, all while their pay has eroded by over 20 per cent in real terms since 2010.


“Officers will be putting their lives on the line knowing their chiefs are recommending another reduction in their standard of living.”


“IF AFFORDABILITY BECOMES THE CEILING, POLICING IS BROKEN” PFEW National Secretary John Partington delivered a scathing assessment of the current approach to police pay. “If affordability within existing budgets becomes the ceiling for police pay, we are guaranteeing a broken service. It is neither fair to officers nor affordable to the public, who ultimately pay the cost in crime and reduced safety.” He warned that allowing the PRRB to be constrained by Treasury-driven affordability tests “locks decline into the system”. “An independent review body must define what proper policing actually requires and not simply calculate how much more blood can be squeezed from the stone.” Mr Partington added that it was “deeply


their standard of living. You cannot demand more courage, more resilience and more personal risk while steadily degrading the value of the job.” He stressed that record numbers of officers are leaving not because the work is too hard, but because the pay no longer justifies the cost to their health, families and future.


PFEW CALLS FOR ROOT AND BRANCH REFORM OF POLICE PAY Alongside the headline 7 per cent annual uplift, the Federation is demanding structural reform, including the long- awaited introduction of a military-style “P Factor”, recognising the unique risks, restrictions and psychological trauma that officers face as a routine part of the job.


PFEW’S PAY DEMANDS: Pay


• A minimum 7 per cent annual pay award for 2026/27 and the following two


• Full implementation of a “P Factor”


years to begin reversing long-term pay erosion.


• Family leave as a day one right reflecting


• New shift disturbance and detective


operational realities.


• Workload payments extended to inspectors


allowances.


and chief inspectors, and additional pay for work beyond 48 hours per week pending a full review of the 1994 PNB Agreement.


A CLEAR WARNING: ACT NOW OR LOSE THE WORKFORCE The Federation’s submission concludes with a stark message: without a meaningful course correction, policing faces a severe capability crisis. Retention is collapsing. Demand is rising. Violence against officers is endemic. And yet the Government and chiefs appear willing to accept a settlement that accelerates decline. The call for 7 per cent annually is not a bargaining position, it is presented as the minimum viable intervention to stop the service haemorrhaging the experience, judgement and leadership that public safety depends on. Policing, PFEW warns, has reached a crossroads. And if decision-makers fail to act, the consequences will be felt not only by officers, but by every community in England and Wales.


05 | POLICE | APRIL | 2026


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