Circular 002/2018: Implementation of the police pay award 2017-18 and amendments to temporary promotion arrangements
Published 9 April 2018
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1. Police Pay Award 2017-18
This circular publishes amendments to determinations made under the Police Regulations 2003, to implement the police pay award for 2017-2018.
On 12 September, the Home Secretary announced her decision in relation to the recommendations of the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) and the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB).
The pay award takes effect from 1 September 2017 and includes:
- a 1% consolidated increase in basic pay for all ranks
- an additional non-consolidated award to the value of 1% of basic pay for all officers at federated and superintending ranks
- a 1% increase to London Weighting
- a 1% increase to the Dog Handlers’ Allowance
This applies to all police officers in England and Wales.
The amendments to Annexes F and U are attached to this circular. For ease of reference we have also attached a version showing the amendments made.
The attached frequently asked questions document provides further details on how the non-consolidated award should be paid.
2. Amendments to temporary promotion and temporary salary determinations
The Secretary of State has agreed to amend the determinations under regulation 27 of the Police Regulations 2003 (Annex I – Temporary Salary and Annex J – Temporary Promotion) to extend the flexibility to offer officers on temporary promotion or ‘acting up’ into the rank of superintendent or above, a non-pensionable payment in lieu of pensionable pay.
The amendments implement arrangements set out in Home Office Circulars 019/2014 and 008/2016. The effective date of these changes is 6 April 2016.
The amendments have been made to help higher earners manage their tax liabilities where pensionable pay may be temporarily increased, but there is not necessarily any ultimate pension benefit for the individual in a final salary pension. This is a result of the pension tax annual allowance limit having decreased in recent years.
The determinations previously used the term ‘honorarium’ to describe the payment an officer may be entitled to receive in lieu of pensionable pay. We are aware that not all force payroll departments are familiar with this term, so for clarity, this has been changed to ‘non-pensionable payment’ in the determinations.
Paragraph 2B of Annex I and Paragraph 3B of Annex J set out that an officer will not be permitted to revoke the decision to receive a non-pensionable payment at a later date unless the circumstances of the temporary promotion, or time spent in receipt of temporary salary, were to change significantly after the agreement was reached.
This restriction was explained in Home Office Circular 008/2016 following agreement with the Police Superintendents’ Association of England and Wales. It is intended to cover situations where a significant change in arrangements may alter the decision about whether an individual should be paid an honorarium in lieu of salary.
For example, if a temporary promotion arrangement is agreed for 3 months but is later extended to 12 months, then the individual’s financial situation may change.