Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the results of the Police Federation's most recent annual survey.

The Police Federation of England and Wales’ Pay and Morale survey 2022 is an important annual survey.

The Government is committed to supporting the wellbeing of all those working within or retired from policing roles and their families. This is why we have enshrined in law the Police Covenant, which is a pledge to do more as a nation to help those who serve our country and specifically to recognise their bravery, commitment, and sacrifices. Together with our delivery partners in the College of Policing and the staff associations, we have made significant progress on the initial priorities, including pre-employment mental health support for officers, the inclusion of wellbeing in HMICFRS Peel inspections and the creation of a new Chief Medical Officer for policing.

We are also working hard with policing during this unprecedented recruitment drive, ensuring forces can support new officers into the service with the training and supervision they need to thrive. The retention of experienced police officers is a priority for the Home Office and the National Police Chiefs’ Council. Voluntary resignation rates, at 2.5%, are low compared to other sectors.

We also want to ensure we are listening to the views of new officers, and we have recently surveyed almost 3,500 new recruits, which found that the majority of new recruits surveyed enjoy a positive onboarding experience, are satisfied with their jobs and want to remain officers for the rest of their working lives.

The independent Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) makes recommendations to the Government on the appropriate level of pay and allowances for police officers.

The PRRB gathers and invites parties to submit evidence to inform its recommendations. This includes both written and oral evidence from the Government, police employers and police staff associations. The PRRB weighs the evidence, considers independent research, and formulates detailed recommendations.