Christmas pay breakthrough an ‘immense relief’ to PSNI officers
The Police Federation for Northern Ireland (PFNI) says thousands of police officers will receive their 4.75 per cent pay increase in their December payslips.
PFNI chair Liam Kelly says the Christmas pay breakthrough, which will be backdated to September, will come as “immense relief to hard-pressed officers”.
Mr Kelly said: “We’ve been arguing for ratification of this pay award for months and I’m delighted it’s now coming through to our men and women.
“The thousands on lower pay scales will breathe a sigh of relief. Coming as it does in the face of Christmas, this increase will make a big difference to officers and their families.
“I’m particularly pleased that we’ve maintained pay parity with England and Wales as to break away from the GB benchmark would be disastrous.”
Mr Kelly also paid tribute to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) chief constable and his team for “impressing on ministers the need to get this pay award across the line”.
He added: “The October Monitoring Round by the Executive, which secured £36.7 million for the PSNI, enabled this to happen. My thanks also to the officials and staff from the Departments of Justice and Finance for getting the necessary approvals in place for the PSNI’s business case to be finalised.
“This is a good day for the officers I’m honoured to represent.”