LOCAL MP’s urged the Home Secretary to reverse a “petty” government decision over police wages before it damages the Thames Valley force.
Reading West MP Martin Salter called on Home Secretary Jacqui Smith to reverse the decision not to backdate the recent police pay increase to September 1 2007 before local officers ditch their beats in favour of London wages.
The Police Arbitration Tribunal awarded the police a 2.5 per cent pay-rise backdated to September, however, the home secretary chose to ignore the recommendation.
Mr Salter said that he had received correspondence from a number of local serving police officers who were angered at the decision, which they say will effectively reduce the increase from 2.5 to 1.9 per cent.
The police salary year starts in September, so the officers will have missed out on four month's worth of increased pay.
Mr Salter fears that the decision will exacerbate the existing problems of recruiting and retaining officers in the Thames Valley area, as more trained policemen and women leave local forces to receive higher wages with the Metropolitan Police.
During a meeting of the Home Affairs Select Committee on Tuesday (11), Mr Salter told the home secretary that police officers serving in forces around London, who want to see a realistic pay rise, can take advantage of free travel and higher wages offered by the Met.
He told the Home secretary: “You are in danger of breaching the covenant between the police and those who pay their wages which means that in return for not having the right to strike police officers are entitled to expect their tribunal recommendations on pay to be implemented in full”.
According to Mr Salter, it costs £1 million to train a police officer and figures from police authorities surrounding London show that 745 out of the 1000 who left those areas over the last five years went on to join the Metropolitan police.
Earlier this year, Mr Salter and Slough West MP, Fiona McTaggart, launched a campaign to stop the Metropolitan Police aggressively poaching Thames Valley officers - who serve West Berkshire.
Mr Salter said: “I am proud to support the police officers who do such important work in Reading and elsewhere to protect the public and keep our communities safe.
"I admire their bravery in the face of the dangers they face everyday and I strongly believe that police officers’ pay policy cannot simply be lumped in with the public sector pay round, as uniquely, they have forfeited the right to strike, which is available to other workers.”