Incremental pay increases : Confusion remains Officers at the sharp are still to be told exactly what they will be earning next year – despite 1 per cent pay rise. Date - 2nd September 2013 By - Royston Martis - Police Oracle 1 Comment Officers across England and Wales received a 1 per cent “cost of living” pay rise on September 1 – but how their incremental increases will look in the future is still to be decided. At a Police Negotiating Board meeting in April, an Official Side offer to increase officers’ pay in September 2013 was accepted by the Staff Side. However, following another PNB meeting in July – and to the confusion of many rank and file officers – how increments will change from 2014 is still to be negotiated. As a result, those on the front line of policing are yet to be told what they will be earning next year. One officer, who asked not to be named, told PoliceOracle: “I am completely confused by all the pay changes. We really need some clarification from the Police Federation of England and Wales on this.” Another PC added: “Can someone please provide some clarity on the pay freeze and the impact on increments as I am very confused. It is impossible to plan your finances for the next year when you do not know what you will be earning.” In theory, officers will move one point up their pay scale following the end of the incremental pay freeze in April next year. Officers will not be able to “jump” pay points to reflect their actual length of service, but will only progress to the next point on their scale above the level they were “frozen” on in 2011. However, a Police Federation of England and Wales spokeswoman added that the PNB accepted Recommendation 55 of the Winsor Review in July – this said the current point pay scale for existing officers should be reduced by three points between 2014 and 2016. Recommendation 55 states: “Pay points 6, 7, and 9 should be removed from the existing constables’ pay scale in April 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively. This will allow constables to move to the maximum more quickly and ensure that the current and new pay scales merge in 2016.” The Federation said: “Staff Side has agreed Recommendation 55 on condition that work is done to ensure there is no leapfrogging of officers by those with shorter lengths of service. “This would require an additional investment of £8.1 million, to which the Official Side has agreed.” The PNB agreement on Recommendation 55 is now with the Home Secretary – she will make her decision in “due course”. Once this decision is made, it is understood that work to give officers clarity on how the changes will be implemented, and the effect on their pay packets, would be undertaken between the Home Office and Federation. PoliceOracle has been told there is likely to be a published “toolkit” with examples that will allow officers to calculate exactly where they will be on the new pay points. The pay scale for new recruit constables – who joined after 1 April this year – has been reduced from ten points to seven points, meaning new officers will be able to reach the top point of £36,519 in seven years rather than ten. Meanwhile the “cost of living” rise which came in at the beginning of September is less than half of that seen for officers in the three years preceding the three year pay freeze which began in 2011. In 2008, a deal was struck with the then Labour Government that saw an increase in officers’ pay of 2.65 per cent for 2008/09, 2.6 per cent for 2009/10 and 2.55 per cent for 2010/11.
Posted on: Mon, 02 Sep 2013 11:19:23 +0000
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