Heads of Agreement on Police Pay and Conditions
At a meeting of the Police Negotiating Board (PNB) held on 27 December 2001, which was the culmination of a series of meetings, Heads of Agreement were reached on police pay and conditions. The package has been negotiated by the Official and Staff Sides of the PNB having regard to the Home Secretary's Outcomes Paper of 24 October 2001, and is subject to provisos including ratification by each Side following consultation with its membership. Subject to those provisos, both Sides of the PNB will present this package to their members as the best that can be achieved in negotiations within the time limits under which the PNB has been operating.
As promised, it is the intention of the Joint Central Committee to conduct wide consultation with its membership in time to meet the deadline set, which is, that the results of any consultation will be confirmed by the end of February 2002. To that end, a further meeting of the PNB has been arranged for 25 February 2002 by which time all Sides should have had sufficient time to consult with their membership. We will circulate the paper to every member seeking their views.
The Heads of Agreement is not a PNB agreement and will need ratification or otherwise at the meeting on 25 February 2002. The proposals are not straightforward and are outlined for your information.
Basic Pay Scales
The pay scales for the Federated Ranks will be shortened and be subject to a minimum increase of £400 per point with effect from April 2003.
The Constables scale will be reduced by two points at this date and the Sergeants, Inspectors and Chief Inspectors by one point.
The Constables scale will be further shortened by a further point at April 2004 and April 2005. This will result in the scale being reduced from fourteen to ten incremental points by 2005.
Competence Related Threshold Payment
Each member of the federated ranks will have access to a competence related threshold payment of £1,002 a year (pensionable) once they have served for a year at the maximum of their pay scale, and subject to satisfying the requirements of the scheme. This scheme will be introduced from April 2003. It is anticipated that at least 75% of those eligible will access the threshold payment. The figure of £1,002 will be uprated in line with our usual index from 1 September 2004.
Special Priority Payments
A scheme for special priority payments will operate in each force. The first payment will be made under this scheme in December 2003. The scheme will be targeted at front line operational officers in particular. In the first year at least an additional 1% of the force's annual basic paybill for ranks below chief officers will be spent on this scheme. This will increase to1.5% of the paybill in the second year and at least 2% in years thereafter.
Payments under this scheme to individuals will be not less than £500 a year or more than £5,000 a year. They will be taxable but not pensionable and will be paid as a single lump sum in December each year as appropriate. The payments will be pro rata in the case of a postholder who has been in a qualifying post for less than the calendar year.
Bonus Payments
A separate scheme for bonus payments of between £50 and £500 per head to recognise occasional work of an outstandingly unpleasant, demanding or important nature will be introduced from 1 April 2003. These arrangements will be developed in local consultation with the staff associations.
Starting Salaries
From April 2003 higher starting salaries will be operating as follows:
| Age |
Starting Point |
| Under 22 |
First point of PC scale |
| 22 - 26 |
Second point of PC scale |
| 27 and over |
Third point of PC scale |
After completion of initial training, officers will move to the next incremental point. After two years' service, they will move to their third pay point and annually up the scale thereafter.
Encouraging Officers to Stay beyond 30 Years
A scheme designed to encourage officers to stay in the service beyond 30 years, subject to the agreement of the individual and force management, subject to Treasury approval and following pilot schemes will be introduced.
The scheme will allow each officer who wishes to participate to apply for selection. Appointment will be for up to four years and may be extended by a further three years. Officers will be eligible for lump sum commutation which the Inland Revenue has confirmed will be tax free.
Participants will re-enter the force at their former rank, if selected for that rank. They will no longer be entitled to replacement allowance but their pension will be partially abated so that their gross earnings will be at their pre retirement level, ie, including the replacement allowance.
Participants will not be eligible to re-join the Police Pension Scheme and they will not pay the 11% contribution towards that scheme. Although not members of the Police Pension Scheme, participants will be entitled to injury awards, awards for death as a result of an injury on duty and the force will bear the cost of insurance payment to provide the equivalent of a lump sum death in service grant.
Sickness and Ill Health Retirement
The Home Secretary intends to introduce an approved occupational health scheme, together with improved ill health and sickness management. The aim is that the police service should not lose the skills and experience of officers who are able to continue to make a valuable contribution. The proposals include a strategy for effective management of medical retirements and poor attendance but with a view to assisting members rehabilitation to work and reduce sickness and ill health retirement levels.
Part Time Working
The 16-hour minimum working week for part time working will be removed as soon as is practicable and the requirement for job share in respect of middle and senior ranks.
Simplified System for Regulations and Determinations
Police Regulations will be simplified and in certain circumstances replaced by legally enforceable determinations underpinned by sufficient safeguards in and linked to a substantive Regulation.
Working Time
The existing premia for overtime, rest day and public holiday working will be altered in two equal stages as follows:
| Current Premium |
From 1 April 2003 |
From 1 April 2004 |
| T + 1/3 |
T + 4/15 |
T +1/5 |
| T + 1/2 |
T + 5/12 |
T + 1/3 |
| Double Time |
T + 3/4 |
T + 1/2 |
This effectively phases in a reduction in the premia over a two year period.
From 1 April 2003 the present eight day threshold for triggering the higher rate of compensation for working on a rostered rest day will be reduced to five days. The current fifteen day trigger point will not be changed.
The rules will be amended from 1 April 2003 so that the post-Sheehy 'disregard' of casual overtime of up to half an hour up to four times a week applies to time-off as well as to paid overtime compensation. (This has no effect to PSNI as time off is still under review.)
Duty rosters covering at least three months will be drawn up and published locally by force management, after full consultation with the JBB. At the same time, PNB recognises that it is good practice to plan annual leave up to a year in advance, in the interests of both officers and managers.
Allowances
The following allowances will be maintained:
- Rent, housing and replacement allowances
- London weighting and London allowances
- South East allowances
- Dog handlers' allowances
- Motor vehicle allowances
- Allowances in respect of medical charges arising from injuries incurred on duty
- PSNI allowance (Northern Ireland Allowance)
Plain clothes allowance will be halved from 1 April 2003 and discontinued from 1 April 2004.
Subsistence, refreshment and lodging allowances will be discontinued from 1 April 2003. Instead officers will be reimbursed expenditure incurred in the course of duty provided it is:
- Necessary;
- Reasonable;
- Additional to what the officer would otherwise have incurred; and
- Backed by a receipt.
Removal allowance will be discontinued from 1 April 2003. Instead officers who are required to move will be reimbursed for associated expenditure provided it is necessary, reasonable and backed by receipts.
Frozen undermanning allowances will be discontinued from 1 April 2003. (Not applicable in Northern Ireland)
Firearms' users standby allowance and gratuity for fingerprinting and searching badly decomposed bodies will be discontinued from 1 April 2003. The first of these allowances will be eligible for payment under the Special Priority Payments scheme. Where the gratuity would have been paid, a bonus payment may be appropriate.
The recurring escort duty allowance will be discontinued from 1 April 2003. Instead those posts receiving this allowance will continue to be paid the same amount.
This package is offered in addition to the normal September upgrade of pay in line with the median of OME's survey of private sector non-manual total pay settlements.
