On 1 October 2010, the UK Home Secretary, Theresa May MP, announced that Winsor was to carry out a review of police pay and conditions. The purpose stated was to improve service for the public and maximise value for money.
The review was given the job of making recommendations about the pay and conditions of the 43 established police forces in England and Wales
The first part report was published by the Home Office on 8 March 2011.
Broadly, it recommended savings of £1.1 billion from the police pay bill over three years September 2011 - September 2014, with £485 million going to the taxpayer and £625 million being redirected to "front-line policing".
The report suggested that the pay budget should be redistributed in such a way that some police officers would receive pay cuts whilst other officers would benefit details here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16475119
The Association of Chief Police Officers welcomed the Part 1 report and said that it hoped it would lay lasting foundations for the police service. The Police Federation said that it would oppose the proposals as an unprecedented attack on police pay and conditions
The Part 2 report, the Final Report of the review, was published on 15 March 2012. It contains recommendations of a much longer-term nature, including linking pay to performance rather than time-service, payment for the acquisition and use of accredited professional policing skills, the creation of a power akin to a right of police forces to make police officers redundant even if they have not yet attained full pensionable service, higher educational qualifications required of recruits, fast-track promotion to inspector rank for the most promising internal and external candidates, direct entry at superintendent rank for individuals of exceptional achievement in other sectors, compulsory fitness tests for all officers, a more rigorous regime applying to officers on restricted duties (i.e. those who are unable to fulfil all the requirements of a police officer), a new retirement age of 60 for police officers,
The Police Federation reacted adversely to the Part 2 report, telling the Home Secretary that its contents had placed Police Federation members in a state of "utter dismay, consternation and disillusion". It said that "what Winsor is suggesting goes far beyond reform and threatens to undermine the very foundations of British policing and the public we serve".
The Police Superintendents' Association of England and Wales said "This is a serious and significant report that has major and long-term implications for the Police Service, individual officers and staff and for the public we serve. At over one thousand pages and containing one hundred and twenty-one recommendations it is important to carefully analyse the Report before passing judgement on individual recommendations. ... This Report comes at a time when police officers and staff face real cuts in pay of £160 million as a result of the first part of Mr Winsor’s Review, a three-year pay freeze, increased pension contributions, a 20% cut in funding and the loss of 34,000 officers and staff which has led to a serious erosion of morale. It is important therefore to recognise that the publication of the final report marks the start of a detailed process involving all parts of the Service and the Government that will look at the long-term consequences, practicalities and cost involved. We now await the decision of the Home Secretary in respect of the recommendations and the time-scales for implementation and look forward to playing a full part in determining the future of policing.”
Further details can be found at the following links:
After the review Winsor was controversially appointed Chief Inspector of Constabulary.
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