Police Scotland staff have rejected a pay offer and some are ‘working to rule’ until a better offer is forthcoming.
Last month, the Police Negotiating Board for Scotland offered a 4.75% uplift to cover all police officer ranks earning £28,296 and above. Those who earn up to this threshold would get a £1,344 uplift as part of the offer.
The Board said it was committed to “no compulsory redundancies” and stressed that the pay increase was above inflation and higher than any other pay settlements in the Scottish public sector.
The Scottish Police Federation has asked for a 5.7% rise for 2024-25. A 7% pay rise was agreed last year following a lengthy dispute and initial claim for 8.5%.
Members of the Unison union at Police Scotland, which represents police staff such as call handlers, detention officers and incident advisors, voted to reject the latest offer by 63%.
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On Friday 1 November, David Kennedy, general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, wrote to the Scottish chief constable Jo Farrell advising her that there would be a “withdrawal of goodwill” by officers from 5pm that evening.
This withdrawal of goodwill would include starting and finishing rostered shifts on time, not taking personal protective equipment home and not charging radios at home.
Kennedy said: “The chief constable, the SPA and the Scottish government have let the service down. We are the backbone of the public sector. We pick up everything else that others don’t do, and we continue to do so.
“What is keeping the police service afloat isn’t policy or procedure. What’s keeping it afloat are the people who work for the service – the cops – yet they’re being treated with total contempt.
“We demand to be treated fairly, and to be treated with the respect that our members who are hard-working police officers deserve.”
When recommending officers to reject the latest offer, Unison Scotland police staff branch secretary David Malcolm said: “Police staff play a vital role in keeping communities safe across the country. The justice system simply couldn’t function without the essential work of employees in control rooms, forensic laboratories and custody suites.
“When Police Scotland was established a decade ago, there were promises that savings would be pumped back into the service. But all that’s happened since then is a reduction in police numbers and cuts in police staff pay. At the same time spending on consultancy firms such as PwC and Deloitte has gone through the roof.”
Police Scotland has faced a range of staffing issues in recent months, including exit survey data that showed officers were leaving due to heavy workloads, stress and misogyny.
Police in England and Wales received a pay increase of 4.75% this summer as part of broader public sector workers’ pay rises announced by the chancellor.
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