Last week Graham Stuart, MP for Beverley and Holderness, met the Rt Hon Nick Herbert, Minister of State for Policing and Criminal Justice, along with two of his constituents, to discuss the implications of the Winsor Review for police staff pay.
Graham wrote to the Minister last year concerned about the potential implications of changes to the allowances paid to civilian staff within the police service. The Minister agreed to meet with Graham and constituents, Trevor Laugley and Stephen Meredith, to hear their reservations over the potential impact of recommendations from the review undertaken by Tom Winsor.
Part one of the review, which was published on 8 March 2011, focused on short-term reforms to encourage the police service to become more efficient, effective and economical. Part two of the review, which is required to make recommendations for longer-term reform, could widen the gap in pay between civilians and police officers doing the same job.
Graham said: “It was good to have a chance to meet the Minister and explain the reality of the services provided by civilian staff. Many are part of the front line and play crucial roles in the detection of crime. Highly qualified, experienced police staff work shoulder to shoulder with police officers doing exactly the same job, but for much lower basic pay. Only the use of weekend, on-call and shift allowances paid to police staff helps rebalance this inequitable situation.
“A differentiation in salary between police officers and police staff is widely accepted. However, the Government needs to ensure that changes to allowances of police staff do not widen these pay differentials further, but rather close them so that, regardless of their role, all those within the police service are treated in the same way.”
The MP continued: “The Minister told us he wants to see one, united police service with equitable pay for all. He said his office would ensure that the review team received the briefing my constituents put together and that he would look further into the issues involved. We’ll now await the second part of the review and then lobby government further if necessary.”
Constituent, Trevor Laugley said: “As the manager of an operational Crime Scene Investigation unit, I genuinely fear that the Winsor report will have a negative impact on both the morale of the unit and the retention of these highly skilled specialists. Although I accept and agree that it is unlikely we will experience a shortage of applicants for the role, it will undoubtedly impact on the calibre and suitability of future applicants and the high standards that we can presently demand.”
Part two of the Winsor Review is due to be published later this month.
