'Overworked' Lancashire Police officers stress they are worse off financially than five years ago and worry about the cost of living

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.

Seventy-three percent of respondents from Lancashire Police felt that they were worse off financially than they were five years ago and 13 percent of respondents reported never or almost never having enough money to cover all their essentials.

Eighty-two percent of respondents from Lancashire Police felt that morale within Lancashire is currently low.

And 70 percent of respondents from Lancashire Police said that over the last 12 months, their workload has been too high or much too high.

Sadly, 64 percent of officers who responded said they would not recommend joining the police to others and 10 percent of respondents from Lancashire 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.

Rachel Hanley, Lancashire Police Federation Chair, said: “Sadly the survey results are not surprising. Officers have faced a year on year pay cut with an inherently unfair pay review process. The number of officers wishing to leave is the highest it has ever been, this needs to be urgently addressed through better pay and conditions.

“Officers worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic where they faced rising levels of assaults and almost unenforceable legislation, they have seen no reward and recognition for this.

“The service is grossly underfunded with simply not enough officers to do the job expected by the Government and the public, coupled with the fact that they are not appropriately paid has a huge impact on officers welfare and wellbeing, which is a growing crisis.”

Commenting on the findings, a Home Office spokesperson said: “The police do an extraordinary job and we are determined to ensure the nation does more to honour the service and sacrifice of the police, that is why we recently introduced the Police Covenant which recognises their bravery and commitment.

"To help further support Lancashire Police in 2022/23, the Government has published a police funding settlement of up to £16.9 billion - an increase of up to £1.1 billion when compared to 2021/2022. We have also recruited over 11,000 additional officers as part of our commitment to recruit 20,000 officers across England and Wales.”