Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Seccombe has welcomed the Government’s announcement on police officer pay, but sounded a cautionary note about the impact on policing budgets locally.
The government announced yesterday (September 12) that it plans to lift the long-running 1% cap on public sector pay increases from next year and revealed that police officers will receive a 1% pay increase plus a one-off 1% bonus for 2017-18.
For Warwickshire Police, the pay increase of 1% plus the cost of bonuses, would cost around £500,000 in the first year. This is the equivalent of the cost of employing around 12 police officers.
Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Seccombe said: “The increase in pay and the bonus award announced by the Government is more than merited by the police officers who do so much to protect our communities here in Warwickshire. We have seen many occasions where they have gone above and beyond the call of duty in order to protect the public and I think this award is a welcome recognition of that by the Government.
“However, decisions to award additional pay now and in the future have an inevitable impact on policing budgets locally, which have been planned on the basis of the 1% budget cap being in place. The government has said that this year’s pay award will be funded within our existing budgets, which means that we are unexpectedly now having to find an additional £500,000 this year. While this is can be accommodated in the short term, I will be continuing to press the case with Ministers that a more sustainable, longer-term solution is needed to guarantee fair funding for all police forces into the future.”
