Correspondence

Annex U amendment - service critical skills and recognition of workload payments (accessible version)

Published 14 July 2021

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/circular-0052021-annexes-f-and-u-under-police-regulations-2003/annex-u-amendment-service-critical-skills-and-recognition-of-workload-payments-accessible-version

Annex U (amendment) Regulation 34

Allowances

The following determination “Annex U (Amendment) – Allowances” is made by the Secretary of State under regulation 34 of the Police Regulations 2003 (S.I. 2003/527), following consultation in accordance with regulation 46 of those Regulations. This determination was made on 21 May 2021 and amends the determination “Annex U - Allowances” (“Annex U”). The amendments come into force on 1 July 2021.

1) Substitution of Part 8, Bonus Payments

For Part 8 of Annex U, “BONUS PAYMENTS”, substitute:

‘8) BONUS PAYMENTS

A chief officer may award a payment of not less than £50 and not more than £2,000 to a member of their force where they are satisfied that the member concerned has performed work of an outstandingly demanding, unpleasant or important nature.’.

2) Substitution of Part 15, Hard to fill roles and demanding Superintendent roles

For Part 15 of Annex U, “HARD TO FILL ROLES AND DEMANDING SUPERINTENDENT ROLES”, substitute:

“15) SERVICE CRITICAL SKILLS PAYMENT

a) A chief officer may award a payment to an individual officer of a rank of chief superintendent or below of up to £5,000 per annum, to be known as the service critical skills payment, where the “service critical skills” criterion is met.

b) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (a), the service critical skills criterion is met where the specific policing role in question requires a skill set that is essential to the delivery of an effective policing service and either:

  • (i) those skills are in demonstrably short supply and financial incentivisation is considered necessary to attract or retain those skills; or

  • (ii) the role in question is “hard-to-fill” and financial incentivisation is considered necessary to either attract or retain those skills or to fill the role in question.

c) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (b)(ii), a role is “hard-to-fill” if:

  • (i) it has not been possible to fill it despite advertising or posting attempts and this has resulted in an ongoing and unacceptably high vacancy rate; or

  • (ii) past levels of officer retention in the role have been poor or this situation can be reasonably predicted; or

  • (iii) for retention purposes, officers undertaking the role have been prevented from voluntarily applying for alternative roles.

d) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (c)(i), a vacancy is deemed to have been filled once a successful applicant is identified or a posting agreed. Delays in the actual posting taking place do not alone mean a role is “hard-to-fill”.

e) When awarding a service critical skills payment, a chief officer:

  • (i) shall set out the skill set and role on the basis of which an officer is receiving the payment, with reference to the requirements of paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) above; and

  • (ii) shall set out the payment amount in accordance with paragraph (a) and the frequency of payment in accordance with paragraph (g); and

  • (iii) may set out conditions which must be met for the payment to be made[footnote 1]; and

  • (iv) must notify the receiving officer in writing of the matters the chief officer sets out under sub-paragraphs (i) and (ii), and of any conditions under subparagraph (iii).

f) A service critical skills payment (or a part thereof) must not be paid in the event that any of the conditions set out in accordance with sub-paragraph (e)(iii) have not been met, unless the chief officer considers it reasonable to make the payment.

g) Subject to paragraph (f), a service critical skills payment may be paid:

  • (i) as a one-off payment upon recruitment;
  • (ii) as a one-off payment on achieving a specific qualification that is required to carry out the role;
  • (iii) every 3 months as a lump sum in monthly salary payment;
  • (iv) on a monthly basis as part of monthly salary;
  • (v) as a lump sum in salary 12 months after appointment; or
  • (vi) in instalments.

h) Service critical skills payments may only be made under this part (15) in relation to time served in eligible roles between 1 July 2021 and 30 June 2023.

16) Recognition of workload payment

a) A chief officer may award a payment to an officer of superintending rank of up to £5,000 per annum, to be known as the recognition of workload payment, in circumstances where the chief officer determines that the demands placed on the officer exceed those usually placed on other officers of the same rank.

b) A chief officer may only determine that the demands placed on an officer exceed those usually placed on other officers of the same rank, if the officer’s role involves at least one of the following factors:

  • (i) unusually frequent antisocial working hours or high levels of ‘out of hours’ contact or disruption, and compensatory payment under the Police Regulations 2003 is not made or is considered insufficient compensation for the level of disruption;

  • (ii) command responsibilities with multiple public, not-for-profit or private sector stakeholders, crossing force internal geographic boundaries;

  • (iii) command responsibilities outside force boundaries, in the form of collaboration or national responsibilities;

  • (iv) accountability for areas of policing that attract considerable personal or career risk by virtue of their nature, level of public scrutiny or public profile;

  • (v) lengthy and regular periods of travel to fulfil command responsibilities;

  • (vi) a span of control or direct responsibility, where geographic size or officer and staff headcount is deemed exceptionally high, having regard to established local norms;

  • (vii) command of officers and staff from more than one force and there are differing organisational cultures, policies, procedures and operating practices within the command;

  • (viii) exceptionally high operational demand of continuing intensity;

  • (ix) the management of a large change process.

c) A recognition of workload payment may be paid:

  • (i) as a one-off payment upon posting;
  • (ii) on a monthly basis as part of monthly salary;
  • (iii) every 3 months as a lump sum in monthly salary payment;
  • (iv) as an ongoing lump sum in salary every 12 months.

d) When awarding a recognition of workload payment, a chief officer:

  • (i) shall set out the considerations on the basis of which an officer is receiving the payment, with reference to the requirements of paragraph (b) above; and

  • (ii) shall set out the payment amount in accordance with paragraph (a) and the frequency of payment in accordance with paragraph (c); and

  • (iii) must notify the receiving officer in writing of the matters the chief officer sets out under sub-paragraphs (i) and (ii).

e) Recognition of workload payments may only be made under this part (16) in relation to time served in eligible roles between 1 July 2021 and 30 June 2023.”.

  1. For example, attaining the necessary level of accreditation or licensing. ↩

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