A 1% wage rise for police in West Yorkshire will cost an extra £4m.
The county’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Mark Burns-Williamson, said that he welcomed news that police officers would receive a rise above the public sector pay cap of 1%, but warned that the government needed to fund the rise.
Each 1% would cost West Yorkshire Police approximately £4m extra.
He said: “This pay increase is long overdue and is welcomed because staff and officers do a tremendous job day in day out to keep our communities’ safe and feeling safe and thoroughly deserve this.
“However, this again highlights the pressures police forces are facing because asking local forces and PCCs to find the money will put more strain on resources. I will be asking the government to ensure they are providing the funds to make this happen without any funding impact locally.
“West Yorkshire Police has lost around £140m since 2010 and 2000 officers and staff so I believe the affordability of the rise can only be met through government providing the means to cover it.
“The announcement refers to the cost being met from Home Office Departmental budgets but doesn’t make clear whether that will be existing police budgets, other police budgets such as the Transformation Fund or other parts of the Home Office.
“If they are expecting it to come out of existing budgets that will not be sustainable and I believe they have a responsibility to increase our budget accordingly.”
