Police officers in England and Wales will get a 3.5% pay rise, the Home Office has announced.
The body responsible for considering officers’ pay recommended an increase of 3.9% for all ranks up to and including chief superintendent, but Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood chose a lower figure.
“This is the highest award that is manageable within existing police force and Home Office budgets, while enabling the continued delivery of the Government’s crime and policing priorities,” she said in a written statement.
The increase will take effect from September 1, and London Weighting will be increased by 3.5%.
MPs’ basic salary rose by 5% to £98,599 a year in April.
Resident doctors in England called off their strike action last month after the Government made a new offer understood to include an average 6.6% pay uplift to be fully implemented by April 2027.
The Home Office said it will boost funding by £84 million in 2026-27, £144 million in 2027-28, and £145 million in 2028-29 to help forces pay the higher wages.
“I have always been clear that I will prioritise crucial frontline services and this funding has been made available through contingency budgets created by rigorous reprioritisation, difficult decisions and savings exercises undertaken during and after the Spending Review 2025,” the Home Secretary added.
Police Federation national secretary John Partington said the increase amounted to a “rise on paper only”.
“In going against the advice of its own expert pay review body, the Home Office has sent a clear message to police officers that it will ignore the evidence that shows police officers are long overdue a proper pay rise,” he said.
“This is a pay rise on paper only, not in officers’ pockets.
“Once inflation, higher pension contributions and frozen tax thresholds are taken into account, the average police officer will be no better off in real terms than before.
“Police officers risk their lives to protect the public.
“The Home Office knows exactly the sacrifices the job demands, yet it has ignored independent advice.
“A pay award that barely beats inflation will drive more experienced officers out of policing, make recruitment harder and put the public at risk by weakening public protection.
“The Government found the money to give real pay rises to junior doctors and train drivers.
“But police pay declined by 22% in real terms between 2010 and 2023 – while the rest of the public sector saw its pay go up by 10%.”
