A huge 93 per cent of Cumbria police officers say they do not currently feel respected by the Government – with 40 per cent worrying about their finances every day.
The new figures from the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) 2021 Pay and Morale Survey come after 12 years of pay caps and pay freezes for the police.
65 per cent of respondents from Cumbria police felt that they were worse off financially than they were five years ago and nine per cent of respondents reported never or almost never having enough money to cover all their essentials.
The impact of the Government’s treatment towards police officers and police pay is clear from the survey, the Police Federation said – 88 per cent of respondents from Cumbria police felt that morale within the Cumbria is currently low.
And 67 per cent of respondents from Cumbria police said that over the last 12 months, their workload has been too high or much too high. Last year police officers across England and Wales were given a 0 per cent pay rise. Household bills are rising sharply and National Insurance is going up in April.
Over the past 10 years, police officer pay has fallen in real terms by 18 per cent. So it comes as no surprise that 77 per cent of the 445 respondents from Cumbria police said that they are dissatisfied with their overall remuneration.
Meanwhile, 67 per cent of officers who responded said they would not recommend joining the police to others and 12 per cent of respondents from Cumbria police said they had an intention to leave the police service either within the next two years or as soon as possible.
The Federation is urging MPs to support its campaign for a real-terms pay increase and a fair and independent mechanism to decide on police officer pay rises.
Paul Williams, of Cumbria Police Federation Chair, said: “These figures although shocking are not surprising. The results compare closely with other forces Nationally and there it is, a combined voice of policing, who are fed up and sick of being ignored by the Government and continuously hit with a big stick.
“Sending our members out in high-risk situations to enforce laws that they created and (allegedly) subsequently broke – then effectively cutting pay is inexcusable. 12 per cent of officers intending to leave is a huge amount and there is a real risk to policing and the public.
“More work for less pay and, let’s face it, less respect, will eventually become a no brainer. Cops will become broken and burned out and this is entirely preventable.
“For what it’s worth, I will be contacting our MPs again as maybe my last efforts to reach out got lost due to the minimal and weak responses I received. It’s about time someone in power listens.”
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