The police staff trade unions – UNISON, Unite and GMB – have agreed to go back to the employers to seek an improvement for low-paid police staff on the current pay offer for 2020.
The offer, made on 22 July, is for:
- 2.5% increase on all pay points with effect from 1 September 2020;
- 2.5% increase on standby allowance with effect from 1 September 2020;
- Without prejudice talks on police staff apprenticeship pay.
However, this falls far short of the unions’ pay claim, which included a 6.5%, or £1,200, increase in police staff pay and 6.5% increase in standby allowance and away from home overnight allowance.
The £1,200 flat rate element of the claim was aimed at addressing the fact that the lowest pay point for police staff is overtaken every year by the real living wage – illustrating how low is the entry point to the police.
UNISON’s national officer for police staff Ben Priestly said: “Despite saying that they are committed to improving low pay in policing, the police employers have offered nothing in addition to address this on-going scandal of low pay in our police forces.
“We cannot have a situation where the increase to the lowest police staff pay point on 1 September each year is routinely overtaken by the real living wage every November.”
In seeking further negotiations, the unions have presented the following improvements to the offer:
- 2.5% or £500 (whichever is the greater) increase on all pay points with effect from 1 September 2020. £500 is worth more than 2.5% for all staff earning under £20,000 a year;
- the deletion of the lowest pay point in the pay scale, to deal “once and for all” with the problem of this pay point being leap-frogged each year by the real living wage.
