Police Remuneration and Conditions of Service

Tuesday 8th March 2011 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mrs Theresa May)]

Tom Winsor has today published the first report of his review of remuneration and conditions of service for police officers and staff in England and Wales.

The review began its work on 1 October last year. The terms of reference asked the review to make recommendations that enable the police service to manage its resources to serve the public more cost-effectively, taking account of the fiscal challenges. In particular they invited the review to focus on proposals that:

Use remuneration and conditions of service to maximise officer and staff deployment to front-line roles where their powers and skills are required;

Provide remuneration and conditions of service that are fair to and reasonable for both the public taxpayer and police officers and staff;

Enable modern management practices in line with practices elsewhere in the public sector and the wider economy.

And to have regard to:

The tough economic conditions and unprecedented public sector deficit, and the consequent Government’s spending review;

The resolution by the Government that the public sector must share the burden of the deficit;

The Government’s policy on pay and pensions;

Analysis of the value of current remuneration and conditions of service for police officers and staff, as compared to other workforces;

A strong desire from the public to see more police officers and operational staff out on the front-line of local policing;

A recognition that there are also less visible front-line roles that require policing powers and skills in order to protect the public;

The particular front-line role and nature of the office of constable in British policing, including the lack of a right to strike;

Parallel work by the police service to improve value for money;

Wider Government objectives for police reform, including the introduction of police and crime commissioners, the reduction of police bureaucracy and collaboration between police forces and with other public services;

Other relevant developments including the Independent Public Service Pensions Commission led by Lord Hutton, the Hutton review of Fair Pay in the Public Sector led by Will Hutton, any emerging recommendations from them, and the Government’s commitment to protect accrued pension rights;

The impact of any recommendations on equality and diversity.

The review was asked to report in two stages, the first covering short-term improvements. Tom Winsor has now provided this first report and has been supported in this work by former chief constable Sir Edward Crew and labour market economist Professor Richard Disney.

I am very grateful for their work on this review and for this report. I will now consider the report very carefully. The report has been laid before Parliament today and copies are available from the Vote Office. It is also available electronically to the service and the public on the review’s website at: http://review.police.uk/.