Federation condemns Government pay freeze

The Police Federation for Northern Ireland (PFNI) is telling thousands of PSNI officers to prepare for a pay freeze next year following the Chancellor’s Spending Review.

PSNI officer pay is linked to their counterparts in England and Wales and the Chancellor announced a pay ‘pause’ for them, which means the same is highly likely to happen here.

PFNI Chair, Mark Lindsay, said: “This will play very badly with the 6,800 officers I represent in Northern Ireland. It will come as a massive disappointment and also cause justifiable anger and frustration.

“Freezing pay for a year is, in effect, a pay cut. It will cause hardship for police families and serve to deter people from considering a career in policing.

“it means that for the11th year in-a-row police pay has either declined or remained static. It is a deplorable decision by the Government.

“Our officers are in the forefront of policing the Covid-19 pandemic and this is the way the Government rewards us. They certainly have not been immune from the economic impact of Covid, with many policing family units already having to deal with redundancy in their household.”

“It’s no wonder that we are seeing a worrying trend where experienced officers are leaving to take up alternative employment that offers better financial rewards and a lot less hassle. 

“This pay ‘pause’ can, in no way, be justified. It seems that once again, the police are the low-hanging fruit, the easy option, as the Government tries to balance the books. One minute we hear loud praise from the Government for the work that we do, the next, it’s a draconian pay freeze. The two cannot be reconciled. It’s a case of penalising those who offer the most!

“Alongside other groups, we will articulate our views on this disgraceful decision to get it reviewed and ensure that whilst my colleagues play their part in the economic recovery, they are not subjected again to disproportionately paying for the debt of the nation”