Hampshire police officers worried about how they will pay the bills

Hampshire Police Federation is unhappy about their current pay, with them launching a campaign to see an improvement in salaries.

In a post on social media, the federation said: ‘We’ve endured 10 years of government attacks to our pay and conditions. And now four in 10 Hampshire police officers are left worrying about how they will pay the bills almost every day.’

The federation pointed out their woes during the recent annual police conference when home secretary Priti Patel was questioned over the issue.

Officers said how they were struggling to make ends meet during the cost of living crisis, but Ms Patel was accused of failing to offer any hope to officers over pay.

Zoë Wakefield, chair of the federation, recently said: ‘The home secretary didn’t really give us any of the answers that we were looking for – particularly around pay, which is the biggest issue with police officers. At one point she was even laughing. This isn’t a joke.

‘An officer in there described how she’s struggling – an officer with more than 20 years’ service. So many officers are really struggling and she just doesn’t seem to want to even listen.’

The home secretary suggested the problems emerged from federation officials withdrawing from the pay process, but this was rejected by delegates.

Zoë added: ‘I would like to ask the home secretary why she hasn’t been engaging with the federation prior to Steve Hartshorn taking up the post as (national) chair.’