UNISON, the UK’s largest union, is seeking a £2,000 South East Weighting allowance for police staff to compensate for the high cost of living in the region.
London based workers get London Weighting; London police officers get over £6,000, plus subsidised travel; while police officers in Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Surrey and Thames Valley get a £2,000 regional pay allowance. There have recently been calls for the allowance to go up to £6,000 a year for officers in South East forces.
UNISON National Officer for Police Staff, Ben Priestley, said:
“Police forces in the South East are struggling to recruit and retain police staff, particularly in control rooms, IT communications and in junior grades.
“As a result, many police forces are not as effective as they should be despite the professionalism and dedication of existing staff.
“Housing and cost of living are part of the problem. They are just as expensive for police staff as for police officers.”
UNISON is seeking an allowance of £2,000 for police staff in Bedfordshire, Essex, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Sussex and the Thames Valley. The claim has been lodged with the Police Support Staff Council, and separate claims are planned for Kent and Surrey Police, which currently are not members of the Council.
UNISON disputes Police Service claims that local grading structures take market forces into account and adjust salaries upwards as a result. Research by LRD suggests that in general, forces outside the South East have higher scale minima and maxima for comparable jobs.
For CJU file preparation clerks, ranked by grade minima, Cambridgeshire are the highest payers, followed by Lincolnshire and Warwickshire. Sussex are fourth and Essex joint 17th with Hampshire. Kent has the lowest minimum salary. The same job, ranked by grade maxima, has Cambridgeshire still top, but with Sussex in seventh place and Essex joint eighth with Hampshire.
For control room operators, by grade minima, Merseyside are the highest payers, followed by Lincolnshire, then Cambridgeshire. Kent are seventh, Sussex eighth, Hampshire joint 10th, and Hertfordshire 12th. The same job ranked by scale maxima, has Warwickshire top, followed by Kent, then Essex. Sussex are fifth, Bedfordshire sixth and Hampshire ninth.
For fingerprint experts, ranked by grade minima, Cambridgeshire and Cumbria are the highest payers followed by Hampshire, then Lincolnshire, with Kent at fourth and Hertfordshire eighth. Sussex are 13th and Essex 14th. Using grade maxima, Cambridgeshire, Merseyside and Staffordshire are one, two and three respectively, with Kent sixth, Essex eighth, Hampshire ninth and Hertfordshire 12th.
ENDS