24 November 2006
Decisions over the pay of senior police officers may be transferred to the body that sets salary levels for top civil servants and army officers, under proposals announced last week.
Policing minister Tony McNulty announced a review of the way police pay is determined in an attempt to put it on a more sustainable basis.
'We cannot continue with arrangements which produce pay raises beyond the level which police authorities can afford to pay without detriment to service delivery,' he said.
Operating in two parts, the review will first consider options for replacing arrangements to determine police officer pay, including giving responsibility for chief officer pay to the Senior Salaries Review Body.
The chair of the Big Lottery Fund, Sir Clive Booth, will head this first part of the review, which is due to report early in 2007.
The second part, to report in autumn 2007, will focus on the effectiveness of the negotiating machinery for the police, including the Police Negotiating Board and the Police Staff Council, which currently make recommendations on the pay and conditions of officers and support staff.
The review will also consider the option of creating a pay review body and any effects this would have on the negotiating machinery.
The proposals were greeted with caution by police authorities. Phil Blundell, chair of the Police Negotiating Board, agreed that the process for negotiating police pay needed to be made fit for the twenty-first century.
But he added: 'We have concerns about the suggestion that chief officers' pay might be moved to the Senior Salaries Review Body, which may lead to greater divergence in the way in which we reward our workforce.
'The Association of Police Authorities will wish to put forward alternative solutions that secure a fair and integrated approach.'
There was disappointment from the Police Federation, which represents frontlines officers. Chair Jan Berry said ministers had backtracked on promises to consult the federation on the terms of reference for the review.
'The pay arrangements review must recognise the special role that police officers play, the dangers they face and the unique restrictions on their private lives,' she said.
PFnov2006
