The Police Federation is set to campaign for collective bargaining and binding arbitration in an overhaul of the police pay review process.

The campaign follows a nationwide poll in which 97.7 per cent of respondents said they wanted the Police Federation of England and Wales to pursue industrial rights.

“The result of this survey was pretty clear cut I would say,” says Phil Walker, chair of South Wales Police Federation.

“Police officers want a fair system in place to determine their annual pay award as they have lost all faith in the current pay review mechanism.

“In recent years, they have seen their pay in real terms fall by 20 per cent. They do not feel the Government shows them any respect in the pay review process and they want to see this change.”

Officer pay

Police officer pay is determined through the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) which replaced the Police Negotiating Board (PNB) in 2014.

But, where the PNB process included binding arbitration, PRRB does not. Its remit is set by the Government which can limit the pay award it can consider and there is no access to independent arbitration.

The Police Federation has historically made an annual submission to PRRB jointly with the Police Superintendents’ Association, but has withdrawn from this process saying it is no longer fit for purpose.

The Police Federation poll on industrial rights ran from 3 to 21 June this year and attracted 50,103 responses.

Poll

The Federation’s National Council and National Board will now start to create the campaign for the introduction of a fair and binding pay mechanism.

“While we wait for this campaign to be formulated, we will be seeking meetings with the MPs representing constituencies in South Wales so that we can discuss the results of the poll and explain our members’ frustration.

“It is not lost on us that within hours of being appointed to the new Cabinet, the health minister pledged to meet with junior doctors who have been striking over their own pay and negotiate with them to bring their action to a close. Perhaps, we would be listened to more if we had access to industrial rights,” says Phil.

READ MORE: Extra officers is only part of the solution says Fed chair.