Dr Alan Billings has responded to the announcement to freeze the pay of police staff.

He said: “I recently made it clear that, in my view, the decision by the Home Secretary to freeze the pay of police officers was a poor reward for all they had done over the last year and a half to keep us safe during some of the worst months of the pandemic.  That was a view shared almost universally by police and crime commissioners.

“As a result of that decision, the employers of police staff (Home Office, Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, National Police Chiefs Council) have felt unable to do anything other than offer the same freeze to staff.

“This does not feel like a genuine negotiation and with inflation now at 3.9% it represents a real terms cut in pay.

“It also contrasts starkly with what others have been offered – Fire and Rescue workers 1.5% and NHS employees 3%.

“We undervalue the work of police staff whose work is largely unseen. But like the engine room of a ship, without their work the vessel cannot move.

“I urge the government to think again: to reward officers and allow a proper negotiation for staff.”