PSC trade unions side pay claim for 2026

The Police Staff Council Trade Union Side submits the following pay claim on behalf of our police staff members in England and Cymru to take effect from 1 September 2026:

• a one-year award
• an increase of nine per cent or £2,700, on all PSC pay points, whichever is the greater
• an increase of nine per cent on standby allowance and overnight away from home allowance
• a minimum pay rate of £15 per hour
• an increase in the minimum annual leave on appointment from 24 to 25 days and from 29 days to 30 days after five years' service
• removal of the current overtime bar at pay point 24 so that all police staff are eligible for overtime payments at premium rates regardless of pay grade.

The Police Staff Council Trade Union Side expects any pay settlement to be fully funded by central government to compensate forces for the cost of the award above 2.5 per cent, which we understand is what most forces have been able to budget for pay awards this year.

The table at Appendix A lays out the impact of this claim on the existing PSC pay spine.

• Our pay claim for this year, as in previous years, aims not only to reflect the current inflationary costs affecting our members, but also the need for pay restoration to recover the purchasing power of their salaries which has taken such a hit over the last 15 years.
• There is a broad consensus that inflation will rise considerably in 2026 and beyond. The most recent RPI inflation figure is 4.1 per cent for March 2026*, representing a half percentage point rise since February. Please see section 5.2.2 for further detail and data around inflation forecasts.
  *Office for National Statistics, UK Consumer Price Inflation Reference Tables, April 2026
• For average police staff pay a 28 per cent pay rise will be required to restore real terms pay back to 2011 levels. This does not even take into account inflation in 2026.
• If pay point 22 had kept pace with inflation it would currently be paid at £42,922 per year instead of the £33,603 which it now is. This is a real terms pay cut of £9,319 per year.
• The high levels of inflation experienced by the UK from 2021 have caused real hardship amongst police staff and their families. The RPI headline rates of inflation understate the impact of real terms pay cuts when we look at bundles of goods which lower earners typically spend their money on.
• Whilst inflation may be lower than at its peak in 2022, this does not mean that goods or services are getting any cheaper; it just means that they are continuing to increase in cost at a slower rate. The very high price increases of 2022 and 2023 are now hard-baked into the cost of living being faced by our members.
• Recruitment and retention data is not available to us but examination of the budget plans recently placed before Police and Crime Panels show us a police service in England and Cymru where numerous forces cite staff recruitment and retention issues, with vacancy rates remaining high.
• Consistent lower than inflation pay increases over the last 15 years have been a big contributory factor to the fall in the morale of our members over the same period. Members feel undervalued and overworked. Stress levels have increased as a result of staffing shortages which in turn have impacted on work life balance, bullying and harassment, unrealistic management expectations, and sometimes hostile and aggressive members of the public.

The significant erosion of real terms pay over 15 years, coupled with the baked-in high inflation in prices for essentials such as energy, food and housing, mean that many staff are really struggling to find the money to get through each month. We look to the Employers to demonstrate that they really value police staff and recognise that it is now essential to make real progress in reversing the real terms cuts to pay and living standards that we have seen since 2011.

This claim is split into the following sections:

• Executive summary
• Police staff pay determination factor
  • Pay movements elsewhere in the public sector/elsewhere in the economy
  • movements in the Retail Prices Index
  • recruitment and retention factors
  • police service funding
• Addressing low pay in policing
• An increase in minimum annual leave
• Removal of overtime bar
• Conclusion

4.1 PSC pay determination factors

The Police Staff Council Handbook sets out the following five factors to which the negotiators must have regard when negotiating PSC pay awards. They do not constitute a rigid formula, but they are significant reference points for any pay claim, and for the pay negotiations which will follow.

The current values attaching to the factors, at the time of first submitting this claim, are:

• pay movements elsewhere in the public sector: 3.6 per cent*
• pay movements across economy: 3.2 per cent*
• movements in the retail prices index (RPI): 4.1 per cent**
  (March 2026)
• recruitment and retention factors: no measure
• police service funding: 4.3 per cent***

*   Incomes Data Research, settlements year to March 2026
** Office for National Statistics, Consumer Price Inflation Reference Tables, April 2026
*** Hansard, Police Grant Report Debate, February 2026

4.2 Pay restoration

Our police staff members tell us that it has become increasingly difficult to make ends meet as a result of 15 years of real terms pay cuts, and they are keenly aware that pay in potential alternative roles in the private sector has been increasing more rapidly than their own. The Trade Union Side wishes to emphasise the need for the eventual pay award this year to recognise the substantial fall in real terms pay since 2011 and the detrimental impact that this has had on our members’ spending power. The headline claim for a nine per cent increase in pay, or £2,700 per year, whichever is greater, is in large part driven by the need for pay restoration.

While the cumulative value of police staff pay rises from 2011 till 2025 has been 41 per cent, the cost of living has risen by 80 per cent over the same period.

The failure of pay to keep up with the rising cost of living has led to major cuts in living standards for police staff and their families since 2011. Table 1 below shows the major fall in living standards suffered by police staff since 2011:

*Office for National Statistics, Consumer Price Inflation Reference Tables, figure is annual change for that  year.
** Police staff earning up to £24,000 received a £250 pay rise, but staff above this pay point received no pay increase.
*** Average – based on increase for the mean salary of pay point 22 – the April 2022 2.1 per cent pay increase is included in this figure.

Table 2 below shows the cuts in real terms pay that police staff have suffered since 2011:

The need to address the loss of the historic buying power of police staff salaries will not go away; nor have our members forgotten the severe impact that government austerity measures have had on their standard of living. Every year of below inflation pay settlements make police staff poorer and reduce their living standards and that of their families.

At the time of writing, the Police Staff Council has no measure available in respect of recruitment and retention issues in forces in England and Wales. However, examination of the budgetary proposals for 2026/2027 laid out to Police and Crime Panels across England and Wales make it clear that for many forces there is a police staff recruitment and retention crisis. Police staff vacancy factors are being used as a method of dealing with budget shortfalls with often the reasons given that it is highly challenging to recruit to roles anyway.

Previous years have seen above inflation police funding settlements and these could, and should, have been used to arrest the declining real terms wages of police staff. It is now possible for many police staff to earn better salaries in the private sector which is another contributory factor to the recruitment and retention crisis.

4.3 Explanation of Claim

• A restorative above inflation increase of nine per cent or £2,700, whichever is the greater, on all pay points.

RPI for March 2026, was 4.1 per cent*, a half percentage point increase over just one month. The Office of Budget Responsibility prediction for RPI over 2026 is 3.1 per cent**. However, that prediction was made before the US launched its war against Iran. Since the US/Iran war has begun, the OECD has almost doubled its CPI inflation forecast for the UK from 2.5 per cent to four per cent*** suggesting RPI could increase to at least five per cent.

The starting point for our claim is an increase that in addition to RPI starts to address the considerable pay erosion caused by 14 years (2020, 2024 and 2025 excepted) of below inflation pay rises. This justifies the nine per cent or £2,700 per year, whichever is greater, headline claim.

The mixed headline claim (nine per cent or £2,700 whichever is the greater) aims to tackle the on-going problem of low pay in the police service. As the table at Appendix A shows, £2,700 has a higher value than nine per cent for police staff on pay points nine to 17 inclusive. The Police Staff Council has a good record of addressing low pay in previous pay awards and the Trade Union Side seeks to work with the Employers Side to continue this work in 2026.

Low pay will only be eradicated from the police service if lower paid staff get appropriate outcomes in annual pay awards. The Employers Side has always previously rejected the concept of a mixed percentage/flat rate award – this has to change if we are to make progress on low pay. We ask the Employers Side to make a step change in this direction as part of the 2026 award.

* Office for National Statistics, Consumer Price Inflation Reference Tables, April 2026
** OBR, Spring Statement, March 2026
*** OECD Economic Forecast, March 2026

• An increase of nine per cent in the value of standby and overnight allowances. Standby allowance has always increased in line with the headline increase in pay points as part of pay awards in previous years, and we ask the same again regarding this and the overnight allowance. These allowances compensate our members for the loss of freedom entailed in being on standby and having to stay away from home overnight.
• A minimum pay rate of £15 per hour. 15 years of the erosion of real terms pay has caused real hardship for many police staff and their families. We know that increases in the cost-of-living impact on lower paid staff more than others, as a greater proportion of their income is spent on essentials that have leapt in price. In the past year, water charges are up 26.1 per cent, vehicle tax and insurance up 13.3 per cent, phone charges up 5.5 per cent, council tax up 5.4 per cent, and mortgage interest payments up five per cent*. Energy and food prices are expected to soar as part of the impact of the US war on Iran. This part of the claim seeks to protect the lowest paid police staff from the effects of these price rises. 
  * Office for National Statistics, Consumer Price Inflation Reference Tables, February 2026

• An increase in the minimum annual leave on appointment from 25 to 26 days and from 29 to 30 days after five years’ service.

  High workloads and understaffing make working in the police service an increasingly tough job. Members tell us that their feelings of stress, low mood, anxiety, or other difficulties with their mental health and well-being, are caused or made worse by work. As well as addressing the need for overworked staff on minimum annual leave to enjoy an extra day, the minimum annual leave for police officers increased to 25 days from 1 April 2025 and this claim addresses that disparity.

• Removal of the current overtime bar at pay point 24 so that all police staff are eligible for overtime payments at premium rates regardless of pay grade.

  In 2011 a member of staff on pay point 25, the first pay point not eligible for overtime at premium rates, earned the equivalent of £47,602 a year at today’s prices. Due to police staff pay not keeping up with rising prices, the value of pay point 25 is now only £37,020. Because staff pay has fallen so dramatically in real terms all staff should be entitled to be paid at premium rates when they work overtime.

5.1 Pay movements elsewhere in the public sector and elsewhere in the economy

Pay settlements in the private sector have been running ahead of public sector and police staff pay awards for the vast majority of the period since 2011. While pay freezes and restraint were in place for police staff, private sector pay consistently pushed ahead; only in the last couple of years rising at similar rates.

Only since 2022 have police staff settlements begun to compare favourably to those in the private sector.

Table 3 below shows the latest average settlements in various sectors in the UK over the past year.

Employers offering pay rises below these rates can expect damage to their ability to recruit and retain high quality staff.

A longer-term perspective, shown in Table 4 below, reflects the cumulative impact of police staff pay settlements lagging behind average pay settlements across the economy from 2011 to 2025. This shows how average pay settlements across the economy have resulted in 52.5 per cent growth since 2011 compared to 41.2 per cent for Police Staff. The cumulative gap in earnings growth since 2011 will not be closed without significant investment.

* Source: Incomes Data Research
** Police staff earning up to £24,000 received a £250 pay rise, but staff above this pay point received no pay increase.
*** Average – based on increase for the mean salary of pay point 22 – the April 2022 2.1% increase is included in this figure

5.2 Movements in the Retail Price Index

As Table 1 above shows, the value of police staff salaries has fallen drastically relative to inflation over the last 15 years.

The most accurate indicator of changes in the cost of living facing workers is the Retail Price Index (RPI). The Police Staff Council pay determination factors recognise this.

Across the period of 2022 and 2023 inflation rose to reach its highest rates for over 30 years. Whilst inflation rates have fallen since then, prices have not and the cost of living crises has made a permanent impact on the living standards of staff.

5.2.1 RPI inflation rate

The Retail Price Index of inflation was 4.1 per cent* in March 2026.  
* Office for National Statistics, Consumer Price Inflation Reference Tables, April 2026

Table 5 below shows how essential goods and services have increased by more than this headline RPI figure over the past year.

*Office for National Statistics, UK Consumer Price Inflation, March 2026

5.2.2 Inflation forecast

At the Spring Statement the Office of Budget Responsibility provided its prediction that RPI Inflation will average 3.1 per cent* over 2026, with further forecasts of three per cent in 2027, 2.8 per cent in 2028 and 2.9 per cent in 2029.  

However this forecast was made before the United States launched its war on Iran. There is a consensus that prices, particularly for food and energy, are going to rise sharply in 2026 although there is great uncertainty as to the scale and duration. Following the start of the US attack on Iran, the OECD has almost doubled its CPI inflation forecast for the UK from 2.5 per cent to four per cent** suggesting RPI could increase to at least five per cent.

Analysis by the Resolution Foundation forecasts that median working-age households will be £480 worse off this year than they would have been if the US war on Iran had not taken place***.

* OBR, Spring Statement, March 2026
** OECD Economic Outlook, March 2026
*** Resolution Foundation, 13 April 2026

5.2.3 Relationship between RPI and PSC Pay Awards (2011 – 2025)

The PSC pay award has been lower than RPI inflation for the vast majority of the period in question.

5.3  Recruitment and retention factors

At the time of writing, the Police Staff Council has no measure available in respect of recruitment and retention issues for forces in England and Wales. However reading through the budgetary proposals laid out to Police and Crime Panels across England and Cymru it is clear that there is a police staff recruitment and retention crisis in a number of forces. Police staff vacancy factors are being used as a method of dealing with budget shortfalls with the reason often given that it is highly challenging to recruit to roles anyway.

For some police forces, the declared police staff vacancy percentage rates are well into the teens and a number are removing vacant posts for the overall police staff establishment.

5.4 Police service funding

One of the PSC pay determination factors is the level of police funding for the coming pay year.

The headline police funding settlement, including permitted precept increases, is 4.3 per cent for 2026/27. By comparison annual inflation measured by RPI was 4.1 per cent in March 2026.

The Trade Union Side also notes that there have previously been a continuous number of years of above inflation funding settlements during the 2011 to 2026 period which could, and should, have been used to arrest the declining real terms wages of police staff.

As set out above, the trade union side’s claim for a mixed nine per cent or £2,700 increase on pay points, whichever is the greater, and for a £15 per hour minimum pay rate seeks to address the issue of low pay in policing.

The National Minimum Wage (NMW) increased by 4.1 per cent from 1 April 2026 to £12.71 outside of London.

Police Scotland moved to a £15 per hour minimum rate of pay for police staff from 2025.

A £15/hour salary rate equates to an annual salary of £28,937, which is just above the current value of PSC pay point 12 with £2,700 added to it in line with our pay claim.

As shown in Appendix A, a £15/hour minimum hourly rate for police staff will require the deletion of PSC pay points 9, 10, 11 and 12. When the PSC last carried out its pay and numbers survey in April 2023 there were the following staff numbers on each of these pay points:

In March 2023 total police staff numbers were 86,402, so staff on pay points 9 – 12 comprised four per cent of the overall workforce. It is clear from this data that there are relatively few police staff remaining on pay points 9 – 12, with many forces having already deleted some or all of these pay points. This adds credibility and weight to the Trade Union Side’s claim to delete these pay points and create a £15 minimum hourly rate.

Across the UK economy lower paid workers have received, relatively, larger pay awards than other staff. In the retail sector Aldi have, from March 2026 pushed rates for store assistants up to £13.35 an hour outside of London and Marks and Spencer £13.41 per hour from April 2026. Meanwhile Amazon has raised its rate for frontline operations staff to £15.30 per hour from September 2025.

These employers are direct competitors for staff and the police service is falling behind.

The importance of maintaining a focus on low pay amongst police staff is made most clear when considering the disproportionate impact of rising living costs on lower earners. 

Within the headline inflation figures some costs are rising significantly faster:

• a 26.1 per cent rise in water charges*
• an 13.3 per cent rise in vehicle tax and insurance*
• a 5.5 per cent rise in phone charge*
• a five per cent rise in childcare costs**

* Office for National Statistics, UK Consumer Price Inflation, March 2026
** Coram Family & Childcare Survey, March 2026

It is worth noting that current inflation rates mask dramatic increases in basic costs over a longer timeframe.

Over 2010 to 2025:

• mortgage interest payments up 140 per cent *
• bus and coach fares up 108 per cent *
• electricity up 148 per cent *
• gas up 98 per cent *

*Office for National Statistics – UK Consumer Price Inflation Tables, December 2025

Items like gas, electricity, housing and food make up a significantly larger proportion of spending for lower earners than for the better paid. It is therefore the case that police staff on the lowest paid grades are facing a considerably higher rate of personal inflation than the headline RPI rate.

Consequences of low pay

What life on low pay means for the daily experience of workers was confirmed in a Living Wage Foundation survey of employees earning less than the Living Wage Foundation rate, published in September 2023, which found:

• 39 per cent regularly skipping meals for financial reasons
• 39 per cent falling behind on household bills
• 32 per cent unable to heat their homes for financial reasons
• 27 per cent falling behind on rent or mortgage payments
• 21 per cent getting a pay day loan to cover essentials
• 50 per cent experiencing a negative impact on their overall quality of life
• 54 per cent experiencing a negative impact on their levels of anxiety
• 60 per cent using foodbanks at least once over the last year.

Higher pay in competitor UK employers and high relative personal inflation for low earners make the Trade Union Side proposal for a £15 per hour minimum rate beneficial for lower paid staff and the police service alike. 

The Police Remuneration Review Body Report for 2024/2025 included the following as recommendation 9: 

“The time it takes the federated ranks to reach the maximum annual leave entitlement of 30 days be reduced from 20 to 10 years……the annual leave for new entrants be increased from 22 to 25 days.”

This recommendation was accepted by the government and took effect from 1 April 2025.

The change to police officer annual leave entitlement has created a disparity with police staff which this pay claim seeks to address. It has not gone unnoticed that the majority male police officer workforce now receives more annual leave on appointment than the majority female police staff workforce. This is detrimental to the ability of forces to present themselves as employers committed to gender equality.

Comparative data on police staff annual leave entitlement across the forces in England and Cymru is provided at Appendix B.

This data shows that 19 forces, which are party to PSC agreements, currently award their police staff the minimum annual leave entitlement in the Police Staff Council Handbook, namely 24 days on appointment and 29 days after five years’ service. These forces are highlighted in yellow.

Police staff in the forces highlighted in yellow naturally feel that they are being short-changed by their employers when it comes to their annual leave, compared with colleagues in other forces. That is not good for morale or performance.

The data at Appendix B shows that 14 forces, which follow the Police Staff Council, award their police staff more than the minimum annual leave in the PSC Handbook.

With police force mergers now on the agenda for the government and police service, increasing the minimum annual leave entitlement in the Handbook would assist the service getting ahead of the game. Starting this harmonisation work now will help to stage what will be very significant staffing costs going forward as a consequence of any police mergers.

PSC pay point 25, the first pay point not eligible for overtime at premium rates, is much lower today in real terms following the long period of pay erosion caused by previous government austerity policies.

In 2011 a member of staff on pay point 25 earned the equivalent of £47,602 a year at today’s prices. Pay point 25 is now paid at only £37,020. Not only has the relative purchasing power of pay point 25 declined, but this pay point is now increasingly occupied by operational staff, whereas previously it was deemed to be the cut off for premium overtime because that was where managerial roles generally began.

Because police staff pay has fallen so dramatically in real terms, together with the changing nature of the roles occupied at pay point 25 and above, this claim argues that all staff should be entitled to be paid at premium rates when they work overtime.

• The Police Staff Council Trade Union Side submits this claim in the expectation that police staff will receive a proper, above inflation, pay rise in 2026, with an additional pay restoration element in the award to address the loss of members’ purchasing power since 2011. 
• Our claim for a nine per cent or £2,700 increase in the value of pay points, whichever is greater, is reasonable and proportionate, particularly given the drastic decline in the value of our members’ earnings over the last fifteen years and the uncertain and inflationary outlook for the world and UK economy over the forthcoming years.
• The Police Staff Council pay determination factors clearly justify a decent pay rise for police staff this year. This claim highlights in particular that RPI inflation remains high and widely expected to rise in 2026. These are the significant economic factors which will inform this year’s pay negotiations.
• A £15/hour minimum salary rate is achievable on the basis of the relatively small number of police staff remaining on PSC pay points 9, 10, 11 and 12 and will address the on-going inequity of low pay. The Trade Union Side is determined to address low pay as part of the 2026 pay award.
• Raising the minimum annual leave entitlement in the PSC Handbook in line with our claim will address the patent unfairness of officers getting more annual leave than staff on appointment and help the police service get ahead of the costs of harmonising police staff pay and conditions which will be a big factor in any forthcoming force mergers.
• Abolishing the current PSC overtime bar will reset entitlement to premium rate overtime earnings relative to historic salary levels, workforce changes and staff expectation.
• Finally, if the government really is serious about tackling the cost of living crisis, our claim gives it ample opportunity to deliver on this ambition.

Forces which have the same annual leave for all grades.

Forces awarding the minimum annual leave entitlement in the PSC Handbook are marked in bold.

For each force, the chart shows the ascending leave entitlement by seniority, with level 1 entitlement applying to the lowest grade staff and level 4 to the highest grade staff in that force

Forces awarding the minimum annual leave entitlement in the PSC Handbook to their lowest grade staff marked in bold.