Police pay is cut in ‘disgraceful show of indifference’
PSNI officers have suffered a one percent pay cut since the end of last month, and the Police Federation for Northern Ireland is calling on the Government to intervene to ‘sort out the mess’.
PSNI officers have suffered a one percent pay cut since the end of last month, and the Police Federation for Northern Ireland is calling on the Government to intervene to ‘sort out the mess’.
Under last year’s pay award, officers received 2% but half that figure was time limited and only lasted until the end of August. It means that in September’s payslips, officers will see pay cut by 1%.
This pay cut comes at a time when a new PSNI pay deal is mired in the devolution ‘black hole’. By right, officers should be receiving a new pay increase effective from the 1st September but without a Department of Justice Minister in place, the deal cannot be implemented.
PSNI pay is linked to what was decided in England and Wales where officers were awarded 2%.
The Chair of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland (PFNI), Mark Lindsay, said: “Police pay is a victim of political paralysis. Even if officers got 2%, their pay is still lagging far behind what is required.
“Pay, in real terms, has been cut by 18.5% in the past eight years and I am hearing stories of officers experiencing financial difficulty. The Independent Pay Review Body recommended 3% to the Government, yet Ministers swatted that advice aside and set the figure at 2%.
“Police leaders in Great Britain, led by the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, have rounded on the government, describing the pay award as ‘a punch on the nose’. In Northern Ireland, the situation is much worse with pay actually cut by 1%.
“This is unacceptable and it has to be fixed. What we are seeing is a disgraceful show of indifference towards officers.
“The officers I represent are furious over this situation. They want this mess sorted out. At a time when officer workload is at an all-time high, it is unacceptable that they have to put up with a ‘wait and see’ approach.
“We have heard how steps are being taken to empower Permanent Secretaries in our Government departments to make decisions. One of the first decisions the Permanent Secretary in the Department of Justice needs to make is to sign off on this paltry pay award.
“Last year, we had to wait eight months to get the pay award implemented. We don’t want to see a repeat of that delay this year.”