More pressure on Derbyshire Police since the pandemic
The Chancellor's news about the end of the Public Sector pay freeze has shone a light on the pressure they are under
The Chancellor's promise to scrap the pay freeze on public sectors has shone a light on the pressures Derbyshire Police is currently facing.
Whether people like teachers and police officer see a pay rise remains to be seen, despite Rishi Sunak's announcement, as ministers will not guarantee that workers like the police, teachers, military personel and teachers will see an increase. Additionally, no promises are being made that the increase will be higher than the rising cost of living, meaning workers could still feel worse off.
While some people are hoping that it really will have a positive impact, the Derbyshire Police Federation remains "sceptical."
Their Chair Tony Wetton said:
"We have to be sceptical about it. We often get these promises and they turn out not to contain what the promises offer."
Smaller incomes for apprentices in the force
The Derbyshire Police Federation in Derbyshire also addedhat while the wages which officers are on at the moment do seem fair, it has been highlighted that the salaries of entry level staff could be improved. The Chair of the Derbyshire Police Federation said:
"Somewhere in the country, potentially they could be coming into this job at as little as £19,000 a year. That's to learn and be a Police officer, and have a huge academic ask on them as well. They have to study."
But there is no guarantee the increase will be higher than the rising cost of living, meaning workers could still feel worse off.
Unison general secretary Christina McAnea has previosuly said:
'If the Chancellor doesn't allocate extra money to government departments to fund the much-needed wage rises, the pay freeze will continue in all but name. Anything less than the rate of inflation is, effectively, a pay cut.'
Lack of capacity
Derbyshire Police is also particulary affected by being at a smaller capacity at the moment. Tony Wetton noted:
"It's been a really challenging 18 months for policing, coming on the back of 8 or 9 years of austerity. In Derbyshire we're something like 300 police officers short since 2010, and where we'd say we'd need to be. We've had years of struggling."