Chart: Largest real police pay rise in 20 years, but effects of previous cuts linger

The Home Office has announced a 4.75% increase in police pay for 2024 (a real-terms rise of about 2.3%). That means a police constable who has just completed initial training in England and Wales will be paid about £7,900 less in 2024 than they would have been in 2010, once inflation is taken into account – a real-terms reduction of 21%. These figures exclude overtime and special allowances, but those are unlikely to have made up for decreases in basic pay.

larger image | annotated R code to produce this chart

Data source: Police Federation, Home Office

Pay for previous years has been adjusted for inflation using the Office for National Statistics preferred CPIH measure.