More than half of police officers are currently experiencing low or very low morale, and seven in 10 would not recommend joining the police to others, a Police Federation of England survey has found.
The Federation’s latest Pay and Morale survey gathered responses from more than 36,000 officers, representing a response rate of around 26% of the police workforce.
More than eight in 10 said they were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with their overall salary and allowances, and almost all (98%) said their cost of living had increased in the last month. Almost a fifth said they rarely or never have enough money to cover all of their essentials, and a number have opted out of the pension scheme because the contributions are unaffordable.
A core factor in low morale was “how the police are treated by the government”. Ninety-five percent said this had a negative impact on their morale and 94% said they did not feel respected by the government.
The survey also revealed concerningly low promotion success rates for officers looking to take the next step in their careers.
Out of the 13% of officers who went for promotion in the last year, only 2% were successful, the survey found. Almost nine in 10 did not apply for promotion last year, with many citing lack of allocated time to study as a barrier.
Police morale
One fifth of police officers plan to resign
Two-thirds of respondents said their workload over the past 12 months had been “too high” or “much too high”, leaving little room for study. Eighty-eight percent felt there were not enough officers to meet the demands of their team or unit.
Seven in 10 had had a request for annual leave turned down in the past 12 months, and 38% said they were unable to take all of their annual leave entitlement.
Dave Bamber, professional development lead and the College of Policing lead, said the lack of protected learning time was hampering many officers’ careers.
“They are expected to study in their own time, and if they fail that, they must start again. Studying during personal time is disadvantageous for certain people, like people with a family or caring responsibilities, and is suited to those who have flexibility outside of work to study. The answer is clear; it benefits those who haven’t got other responsibilities outside of the workplace,” he said.
Bamber said proposals for officers to complete their learning in working time, followed by a more modular structure of testing, would be “more open and creates more opportunities for people”.
A concerning proportion of officers responding to the survey said they had experienced safety threats or physical injuries. Thirty-seven percent said they had been abused verbally in the past 12 months and 11% had experienced physical attacks “at least once a week”.
And while almost three-quarters said their physical health was good or very good, 82% of respondents said they had experienced feelings of stress, low mood or anxiety in the past year.
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A report by the Federation in January found that almost one-fifth of officers plan to resign in the next two years due to concerns over pay and morale.
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