Police Pay Update
Who are the PRRB?
The Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) was set up in 2014 to replace the Police Negotiating Board (PNB). It covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
They are responsible for making recommendations on pay and conditions for police officers at or below the rank of chief superintendent in England, Wales and Northern Ireland – around 135,000 police officers The basis of this process is the provision of robust evidence to support decision-making.
It should be clear that this process is not a negotiation process as is in place in Scotland and PRRB make recommendations on pay and conditions.
Our Government receive recommendations from the PRRB who initially seek evidence from employer and employee stakeholders. The Justice Minister is empowered to either accept those recommendations or not and police officers are notified of the outcome.
The PFNI written submission from February 2022 is available here: https://www.policefed-ni.org.uk/media/1514/032022-pfni-8th-submission-to-prrb-2022-23-final.pdf PFNI also suggested during oral submissions in April 2022 that the current rate of inflation at the point the recommendations are made should be the determining factor on any pay award.
Who are the key stakeholders in NI?
In NI the key stakeholders include:
- Police Federation for Northern Ireland (PFNI)
- Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI)
- Department of Justice / Department of Finance and Personnel
- Superintendents’ Association (SANI)
- NI Policing Board
How does our position differ from Scottish Police Federation?
Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Federation have a completely separate pay process and do not use the PRRB model. By their agreed terms of reference the Federation has the ability to negotiate directly with their devolved Scottish Government and Police Service.
Can we take industrial action like Scottish Police Federation?
The prohibition of industrial action by police officers, along with a ban on trade union membership in favour of a police federation, was originally a response to specific police strikes in 1918-1919. However, the key provisions have been re-enacted over the years; most recently in this jurisdiction within Arts 32, 35 and 68 Police (Northern Ireland) Act 1998.
The relevant legislation wasn’t re-enacted in Scotland which allowed SPF to take limited industrial action in the form of withdrawal of goodwill. It is expected this legislative oversight will be remedied by the Scottish government, leaving the Scottish Police Federation in a similar position to the PFNI where the organisation of further actions could see them and officers vulnerable to criminal charges or disciplinary proceedings.
I should also be noted that the Gardas ‘Blue Flu’ action in 1998 to highlight their inability to take industrial action over pay spectacularly backfired on them as they lost both political and public support.
Why was the pay award delayed?
August 2022: The Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) have made recommendations for the Police officer pay award 2022/2023 for colleagues in England and Wales. They have recommended a one year award for Police officers in the form of a consolidated increase of £1,900 to all Police officer pay points for all ranks.
The principle of pay parity with England and Wales is important and we have a long-established core pay link with our colleagues in England and Wales. Therefore, the Police Federation for Northern Ireland fully expect an identical main pay award recommendation for PSNI officers.
However public sector pay policy in Northern Ireland is a devolved matter so we must await our government’s decision. There are also a number of other matters awaiting recommendations – such as Mutual Aid payments and the future of the CRTP allowance.
PFNI officials met with Department of Justice officials recently and confirmed the PRRB recommendations have been sent to the Justice Minister. We also discussed the timeliness of the process in Northern Ireland.
The contents of the report from PRRB are currently receiving attention from the Justice Minister and preparatory work is on-going with PSNI in relation to progressing the award once the recommendations are ratified.
However, the absence of an Executive in Northern Ireland and the prerequisite to publish a public sector pay policy may have implications for the timeliness of the process. Department of Justice officials have undertaken to keep PFNI updated on the progress of these matters however it is unlikely an update will be available until September/October 2022.
Does the delay involve the main pay award and incremental pay award?
Main pay award:
The Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) recommendations were received by the Justice Minister in June 2022. PFNI have requested sight of the PRRB recommendations from the Justice Minister and from PRRB themselves. We have yet to have sight of the recommendations.
The disquiet and frustration PFNI have about this has already been communicated to both DOJ officials and the Justice Minister. PFNI have been told the contents of the report are ‘strictly confidential’ and will not be shared until the Justice Minister makes a decision whether to ratify the pay award.
The NI Government has unfortunately been in limbo since February 2022. As there is no functioning Executive the PSNI were allocated a reduced envelope budget for 2022. PSNI are currently projecting that they will be some £90 million over budget and are awaiting the Government setting a public sector pay policy and the release of any allocated or additional funds following the next monetary round.
All public sector bodies have been advised via the media, that as Northern Ireland has no functioning Executive Government, a public sector pay policy has not been able to be set, therefore no pay awards are capable of being signed off.
Increments:
In 2021 DOF/DOJ for the first time requested that PSNI provide business cases for both increments and the main pay award at the same time. This was apparently to bring the police officers pay remits in line with the rest of the public sector bodies in NI. PFNI were first notified that there was an issue with this in late September 2021. In previous years, the incremental pay for police was paid as normal and later ratified by a retrospective notification to DOF/DOJ.
Last year this change in process caused a six-month delay in incremental pay being honoured and placed into officers’ salaries. This was retrospectively backdated to 1st September 2021 thus rectifying all outstanding monies due.
In 2022 PFNI have made strong representations to PSNI and the DOJ to ‘decouple’ the processes so that incremental pay can be progressed separately. In the absence of a Government, DOJ indicated that they and DOF were not minded to amend the process at this time. PSNI were also hamstrung in making any business case in the absence of a full budget allocation.
As a result of PFNI representations, PSNI have now submitted the business case to DOJ however without a functioning government and no public sector pay policy this matter inevitability will face delays in being approved.
Update 1st November 2022:
At a meeting with DOJ and other stakeholders today it was discussed that planning by the NIO is already underway and the Secretary of State may in the coming weeks set a budget and publish a public sector pay policy. If this occurs, it may allow our main pay award and incremental pay to be progressed which will alleviate the current challenging conditions for colleagues.
Update 28th November 2022:
The Secretary of State has now set a Northern Ireland budget for 2022/2023. The next step will be the publication of a public sector pay policy which will allow progress on the outstanding pay matters.
Holiday Pay Case
The Holiday Pay case is listed to be heard in the Supreme Court on 14th & 15th December 2022
Pensions update
By way of update the PFNI Pensions Employment Tribunal case has recently had its preliminary management hearing before Judge Tiffney. An application was made and accepted for an initial six month stay on proceedings pending the introduction of the new pension scheme Regulations (which must be enacted no later than 1st October 2023). All representatives of the parties acknowledged that these new scheme Regulations would not address the issue of remedy for injury to feelings and this may ultimately have to be determined by the Tribunal. Counsel noted that a global approach to the question of injury to feelings is ongoing in related cases being heard in England and Wales. Therefore, they were unanimously of the view that it was premature to embark on any interlocutory process about this matter at this juncture. However, Judge Tiffney stressed that this would be revisited at the next case management hearing scheduled for Tuesday 28th March 2023.
A further update will be provided post that hearing.
