13/09/2017

Call For Action To Be Taken To Deliver Pay Award To Officers

The Secretary of State has been urged to take action to deliver a pay award to thousands of PSNI officers.

The Police Federation of Northern Ireland (PFNI) made the comments after it was confirmed that officers will not get a pay increase in their September payslips because there are no Northern Ireland Ministers in place to sign off on any deal.

The Government has ended its Public Sector pay cap which means that officers in England and Wales will get a 1% pay rise and 1% bonus backdated to the start of the month.

PFNI Chairman, Mark Lindsay, said: "Much to our disgust and disappointment there has been no such award relating to Police Officer pay for Northern Ireland.

"The sole reason for this is the absence of a devolved administration, which requires consideration for any recommendations by both a Justice Minister and a Finance Minister. In addition, there is currently no legislative process in place in Northern Ireland to sign off any element of an award.

"The Department of Justice is in possession of the Pay Review Body recommendations relating to Police pay in Northern Ireland, but a decision has been made at Permanent Secretary level not to share these recommendations prior to a Minister having sight of same.

"In the absence of a Northern Ireland Executive, we have written to the Secretary of State urging him to enact legislation which enables critical decisions pertinent to the effective running of Northern Ireland to be taken in the absence of local Ministers. We would also seek assurances that any increase for officers in Northern Ireland be backdated to the 1st September 2017."

(CD/JP)

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