SURREY Police Chief Constable Bob Quick has added his support to officers campaigning for their recent pay award to be backdated to September 1, the date the pay year officially began. The Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, announced last week that the 2.5 per cent pay deal would take effect from December 1, reducing the increase to 1.9 per cent in real terms. The salary for a police constable with average service in Surrey was £29,544 in 2006/07. This has been increased to £30,282 but officers will lose £184.50 of this due to the late payment of the award. Chief Con Quick commented: "This action will needlessly destabilise industrial relations within the police service at a time when we can least afford it. "Police officers have absorbed unprecedented levels of additional work in recent years with new threats that have had to be contained, and ever increasing demands from the government, communities and society as a whole. "Police officers are asked to put their lives on the line every day. Last Saturday, in Surrey, a constable saved a man from drowning in the river at Chertsey, by jumping into the freezing water and battling the strong currents to tow him to safety. "This typifies the risks borne by police officers every day and the potential sacrifices to their own safety they are regularly called upon to make in protecting the public. "This, and the absence of the right to withdraw labour, warrants sensitivity and fairness in dealing with negotiations around police pay and conditions. "It remains a mystery why the entire Police Service has been potentially put offside to save £30 to £40 million when properly negotiated reforms to regulations, working practices and pay rewards could deliver much greater returns for both public and police."
