The Home Secretary has maintained that the government’s reform package is “working” after ratifying the Police Arbitration Tribunal’s ruling on the Winsor II proposals.
In delivering a written ministerial statement to colleagues in the House of Commons, Theresa May maintained that it was imperative “that the police are able to benefit” from the latest tranche of recommendations as soon as possible.
She confirmed that the process of amending the Police Regulations would begin immediately – and the government would be unrelenting in its programme to introduce reforms “that are both fair to officers and the taxpayer”.
The acceptance of the eight recommendations means that – as of April –the starting salary for new police constables will now be cut from £21,000 to £19,000 a year.
Competency Related Threshold Payments will also be phased out between 2013 and 2016 – and negotiations over whether compulsory severance should be introduced for officers will continue in the Police Negotiating Board until July.
Mrs May commended the independent Winsor review for “modernising management practices and developing the vital link between pay and professional skills”.
She added: “The development of the skills agenda is an essential part of both modernising pay and conditions and our programme of reform and developing professionalism.
“Existing police pay and conditions were designed more than 30 years ago, which is why we asked Tom Winsor to carry out his independent review.
“The reform programme is working – crime is falling and public confidence is high. It is imperative that the police are able to benefit from further reforms as soon as possible and I will therefore begin the process of amending the Police Regulations and determinations to implement the Tribunal’s recommendation.”
The ratified Winsor recommendations are –
Recommendation 54 – Proposed payscale for new entrant constables.
Tom Winsor had proposed a shorter payscale that would include a new, lower starting salary of £19,000 for recruits. This was supported by the Official Side of the PNB, made up of the ACPO, the Home Office and the Association of Police Authorities.
Staff Side, made up of the Police Federation, Superintendents’ Association and the Chief Officers’ Staff Association, had suggested an alternative scale, starting at £21,000. Both sides suggested a salary of £36,519 at the top pay point. The Official Side’s proposed payscale was accepted.
Recommendation 112 – The introduction of a national on-call allowance
Mr Winsor had suggested that a national on-call allowance for the federated ranks should be introduced from April 2013. The amount of the allowance would be £15 for each daily occasion of on-call after the officer in question has undertaken 12 on-call sessions in the year beginning on April 1.
Although the arbiters accepted that there was a case for introducing a national on-call allowance “at this juncture”, the recommendation was modified to remove the requirement for the 12 on call sessions.
Recommendation 83 – Competence Related Threshold Payments
Mr Winsor suggested these should be abolished by April 2013 at the latest, and all accrued CRTP payments up to that date should be made on a pro-rated basis.
Following representations from the two sides, arbiters felt the timeframes for this measure were too severe given the financial constraints facing officers. They suggested that a phased withdrawal needed to take place over three years until 2016, and the proposal should be modified.
Recommendation 74 – The payment of regional allowances
Mr Winsor said that chief constables should be given discretion to pay regional allowances up to the current maximum level, as set out in Regulation 34 of the Police Regulations 2003, and the discretion to apply eligibility criteria based on location and performance.
However, the tribunal believed that performance “should not be intertwined with location” and could not accept this part of the proposal. It was therefore modified, enabling chief constables and the Met commissioner to be given discretion to vary levels of payment.
Recommendation 94 – Interim Expertise and Professional Accreditation Allowance
Mr Winsor suggested this should be introduced from April 2013. He said it would reward qualifying officers for the skills they use in the four stated priority functions – neighbourhood policing, public order, investigation and firearms.
Under the proposal, EPAA would be fixed at £600 per year and paid monthly. It would be removed when an officer left the qualifying role.
The arbiters felt there was “considerable merit” in having “some form of systematic assessment” of the demands of officer jobs that would provide the basis of reform of pay structures.
But they felt it “disappointing” that the Winsor Review did not develop this idea. They noted that that the proposal was an interim measure, due to be succeeded by the Specialist Skills Threshold Payment. They rejected the move on the basis of the Staff Side’s “persuasively argued reservations”.
Recommendation 46, 47 and 48 – Compulsory Severance
Mr Winsor had suggested that the Police Regulations 2003 should be amended to create a system of compulsory severance for police officers with less than full pensionable service from April 2013. All of these recommendations were linked to this issue.
Arbiters accepted redundancy as “a common feature of the employment landscape” – and pointed out that the exemption of police was difficult to sustain in the current economic climate.
But the PAT said that the “urgency for the approval and introduction of this measure” demanded by the Official Side of the Police Negotiating Board (PNB) was overstated – and that talks should continue until July next year.
No decision was made on each of these recommendations
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