Police pay-contested and contestable

Abstract

This paper provides an analysis of developments in the determination of police pay. It reveals the contested nature of public sector pay setting where the government of the day is given to short-term economic goals over and above any long-term approach to resolving staffing issues in the essential public services. In the case of the police, the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) has traditionally used both industrial and political methods to put pressure on key government decision-makers. Developments reveal increasingly fraught relations between the police and the government, with the 2008 pay dispute in particular remarking a key point of deterioration in this set of relations. Once it became clear after the 2010 general election that the government would ignore industrial pressure then the PFEW felt driven to increase the activities of its political arm. This ultimately backfired with Plebgate leaving them naked in the negotiating chamber