Norfolk police rep warns 'exodus' of experienced officers will continue without better pay deal
Andy Symonds says he's met with Norfolk MPs to discuss the “huge unfairness” of the current pay award process for officers
The chair of Norfolk's Police Federation is warning that an 'exodus' of experienced officers will continue - unless a better pay deal is put in place for the sector.
Chief Constables from across the UK have recommended to the profession's national pay review body that officers get a pay increase of 3.8 per cent from September this year.
"Police officers have been treated far worse"
Norfolk Police Federation Chair Andy Symonds says previous cuts are taking their toll: "Over the last 15 years or so, officers have seen just over 20 per cent erosion of their pay, so when you look at other public workers, like nurses and teachers, police officers have been treated far worse.
"What we want to do is move to a position that we had pre-2015 where we have a negotiating board and we sit down and discuss what we can do for officer pay and conditions.
"We're lobbying the current government hard on this, just like we did the previous Government."
Andy said he had met with Norfolk MPs to discuss the “huge unfairness” of the current pay award process for officers.
The Police Federation of England and Wales says there has been a degradation of pay for frontline officers of 21% since 2009.
Last year, a survey conducted by the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) showed that over 97.7% of members wanted them to pursue collective bargaining and binding arbitration.
What's the Government said on this?
The Home Office says it's putting £17.5 billion into Policing next year - an increase of over a billion on the current funding settlement.