Pay Award 2017

You will now be aware of the PRRB recommendations for England and Wales and the subsequent pay award made by the Home Office.

Colleagues,
 
You will now be aware of the PRRB recommendations for England and Wales and the subsequent pay award made by the Home Office. Whilst there has previously been an expectation of parity in core pay spines with England and Wales, this cannot be taken for granted and it is therefore inappropriate for us to speculate on recommendations for Northern Ireland on which we remain unsighted. It should be noted however that the Home Office did not accept the recommendations of the PRRB in full.
 
Much to our disgust and disappointment there has been no such award relating to Police Officer pay for Northern Ireland.
 
The sole reason for this is the absence of a devolved administration, which requires consideration for any recommendations by both a Justice Minister and a Finance Minister. In addition there is currently no legislative process in place in Northern Ireland to sign off any element of an award.
 
The Department of Justice are in possession of the PRRB recommendations relating to Police pay in Northern Ireland but a decision has been made at Permanent Secretary level NOT to share these recommendations prior to a Minister having sight of the same.
 
In the absence of a Northern Ireland Executive we have written to the Secretary of State urging him to enact legislation which enables critical decisions pertinent to the effective running of Northern Ireland to be taken in the absence of local Ministers. We would also seek assurances that any increase for officers in Northern Ireland would be backdated to the 1st September 2017.
 
We will continue to pursue all avenues to ensure that the recommendations of the Pay Review Body for Northern Ireland are implemented without any undue delays.
 
We will of course keep you updated when any further relevant information is available.
 
Mark Lindsay
Chairman