Pay award welcome but ‘cumbersome’ system needs overhaul, says PFNI
The chair of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland has welcomed the long overdue pay award for officers but says the process has been “cumbersome and strangled with red tape”.
Mark Lindsay said the system is in need of an overhaul and “crying out for some streamlining”.
Under the 2020/21 award, Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officers will receive a pay increase of 2.5 per cent backdated to September 1 in line with colleagues in England and Wales.
But Mr Lindsay said: “Once again this process has taken far too long, with my colleagues having to wait four months longer for their increase. In England and Wales, the award was implemented in September.
“Here, however, we have a torturous and overly bureaucratic route to get what officers are entitled to. Given that the recommendation was made at the start of the summer, this process has once again proven to be cumbersome, clunky and strangled with ‘red tape’. It should be a simple stroke of the pen, with the groundwork done well in advance, instead of this merry-go-round of bureaucracy.”
The pay award, agreed by the Department of Justice and approved by the Department of Finance, was announced on Thursday (December 17).
Justice Minister Naomi Long said: “I welcome the conclusion of the 2020/21 pay award for PSNI officers in the federated and superintending ranks. The award is consistent with the recommendations of the independent Police Remuneration Review Body and recognises the work of police officers in Northern Ireland.”
She added: “I want to acknowledge not only the importance of the work that our police officers continue to do on a daily basis, but also the commitment and professionalism they have shown during these unprecedented times.”
Mr Lindsay said officers will be glad this matter has been resolved, but added: “The system in Northern Ireland is crying out for some streamlining. A welcome first move would be a more expedient settling on the Public Sector Pay Policy, which for some reason is not decided on early into the financial year.
“An early decision on this would go a long way to improving this process and ensuring that when the pay round is approved nationally, it is automatically applied in this devolved nation.
“Next year, it is likely that there will be a pay ‘pause’, which means that for 17 consecutive years, police pay has in fact declined and that is hardly the action of a government committed to doing what’s right for policing and I would urge the minister to take this into consideration in future pay awards.”
