Police officers will receive a 4.75% pay increase from 1 September 2024 after the government accepted, in full, the recommendations of the Police Remuneration Review Body.
Stuart Cowan, Chair of BTP Federation, said: “Our members will welcome this increase as it goes some way towards meeting increased living and travel costs. But, officers will be left wondering how the level of this increase was set, particularly as the National Police Chiefs Council made representations for a 6% rise.
“In recent weeks we have learned police officers are leaving the service in record numbers, while assaults on officers continue to rise across the board. It’s crucial that factors like recruitment and retention, and the challenges officers face on a daily basis are taken into account when pay decisions are made.
“I have written to the Chair of PRRB to explore the potential for BTP Federation to make an annual submission to the pay review process. I am pleased to update you that Zoe Billingham has agreed to meet with me next month (August) to discuss this.”
The pay award will be discussed by British Transport Police Authority on 5 September. It is anticipated the increase will be reflected in October’s pay, backdated to 1 September. BTP will communicate more about this process shortly.
Home Secretary's statement
This statement can be viewed in full on the parliament.uk website but the key points include:
Both the PRRB and SSRB recommended a consolidated increase of 4.75% to all police officer ranks and pay points with effect from 1 September 2024. The Government is accepting the recommendation in full. The Home Office will provide £175m additional funding in 2024-25 to forces to help with the cost of the pay increase.
The PRRB also recommended that London Weighting should increase by 4.75%; that the On-call Allowance should be increased from £20 to £25; and that the Dog Handlers’ Allowance should be uprated by 4.75% and the additional rate for officers with more than one dog be raised from 25% to 50% of the rate for the first dog.
The PRRB recommended that the chief officer of police in each force should be given the discretion to set the starting salary for new constables at either pay point 1 or pay point 2 on the constables’ pay scale. This recommendation has been accepted, but implementation will be subject to detailed proposals from the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) on the circumstances in which this discretion should be used, along with transition arrangements for those constables on pay point 1, to inform amendments to the Police Regulations 2003.
The PRRB also recommended the Commissioners of the Metropolitan Police Service and City of London Police be given further discretion to set the starting salaries of new constables at pay point 3 on the constables’ pay scale; and that this additional flexibility should be limited to a period of two years and be reviewed after one year. This recommendation has not been accepted. Instead, London Allowance for officers appointed on or after 1 September 1994 will be increased by £1,250. Implementation of this increase will be synchronised alongside the wider changes to constable starting salaries.
The PRRB considered annual leave entitlements for officers in the federated ranks and recommended the time it takes to reach the maximum entitlement of 30 days should be reduced from 20 to 10 years, with effect from 1 April 2025 and phased in over three years. This recommendation has been accepted, subject to the submission of a satisfactory Equality Impact Assessment by the NPCC to the Home Office. The PRRB further recommended that from September 2024, annual leave entitlement for new entrants should be increased from 22 to 25 days. This recommended has been accepted but with implementation taking effect on 1 April 2025.
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