Police staff get fully backdated 2.5% rise

While police officers protested at the government’s refusal to backdate their 2.5% award last month, unions were ensuring that civilian staff working for police forces in England and Wales received the full amount that they were entitled to.

The Police Staff Council (PSC), which negotiates the pay and conditions of 71,000 workers from forensic staff to custody officers, followed the lead of the Police Arbitration Board (PAB) by agreeing a 2.5% pay rise – and decided to backdate the award to the September anniversary date.

The unions on the PSC – the GMB, UNISON and Unite – had previously rejected a 2.25% offer.

Ben Priestley, UNISON national officer and secretary of the PSC trade union side, said the unions were “putting the 2.5% offer to members as the best achievable by negotiation”. He also called on the home secretary to “do the right thing” by implementing the police officers’ award in full in England and Wales.

“By treating police officers and police staff pay differently, the government risks undoing all the good work over the last 10 years to build a unified police service,” he said. “Police staff and police officers work side by side to protect our communities – they do not want to be divided over pay.”