View from Roger Hirst about police officer salary increase announcement
Police officer salary increase is good news but lobbying for more money to protect Essex must continue
“The Government has announced that it plans to lift its one per cent cap on public sector pay increases from next year, meaning police officers will receive a one per cent pay increase plus a one off one per cent bonus for 2017-18.
“I am fortunate enough to hear wonderful stories of officers around Essex doing their utmost to protect us from harm and bring those who commit crime to justice. This pay increase is to be welcomed and gives officers and police staff some recognition of the great contribution they make to the communities they work so hard to protect.
“Following this announcement, I will be looking at how this will impact on Essex’s already stretched financial situation. It is likely that the pay increase will be met from our reserves so it will not directly impact on operational policing. However, as we all know, Essex Police is a very lean force and has the lowest expenditure per resident of any police force in England and Wales. Essex also has one of the lowest council tax precepts for policing in the country and Central Government funding for policing remains constrained. I am committed to working with the Government to get a better financial settlement for Policing and have been leading these discussions on behalf of Police and Crime Commissioners nationally.
“For me, safe and secure communities are the bedrock on which we build wellbeing and prosperity for all. We need to prevent crime from happening in the first place and make sure that the police service is so close to the community that people feel confident that the police know what is going on and that serious harm and recurrent issues of concern can be dealt with.
“I will continue to meet with our MPs, the Home Office and work with other Police and Crime Commissioners across the country to ensure that we do everything we can to have an adequately funded police service for the future.”
Roger Hirst, Police and Crime Commissioner for Essex
