PFNI says officers feel they are at the back of pay queue

Police officers are becoming increasing exasperated and have been left feeling that they are at the back of the queue when it comes to getting their long overdue pay award.

The Chair of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland, Liam Kelly, said: “The Justice Minister needs to take control of the situation and urgently progress the pay award that our officers should have received last September.

“Despite being allocated additional funds last month from the Executive to rectify pressures and specifically deal with pay awards, there regrettably seems to be a lack of urgency in the Department of Justice.

“As we approach three weeks before the end of the financial year, the pay recommendations for police officers have still not been formally confirmed nor ratified and PSNI have yet to be granted the requisite permission nor allocated the additional funds to enable them to pay it.

“Should this not be forthcoming within the next week then it will be, at best, the end of April 2024 before officers will see any uplift in their pay packets. This is something that can be sorted out relatively quickly as the means are there, so we fully expected to see positive action before now.

“Officers have watched in exasperation as other public sector departments have quickly made offers to resolve their pay claims. Unlike our trade union colleagues, police officers don’t have pay negotiations and are legally precluded from taking any industrial actions to further their pay claim.

“Officers have been questioning whether this legal restriction is a factor why they’re not seeing the same urgency that’s required to conclude their pay rectification. They increasingly feel they are effectively at the back of the queue when it comes to agreeing Public Sector pay. They are feeling unappreciated, undervalued, and left behind.”

“Police officers, particularly those with less than five years’ experience, are not well paid. They need the pay award that’s the same as the 7% that officers received in England and Wales to help them deal with this continuing cost-of-living crisis.

“To continue to deny them what they are entitled to is simply unfair. I’m asking the Justice Minister to expeditiously take action to deal with this crucial unresolved matter.”