A SPECIAL NONSENSE

If you get one you probably think they're great.  If you don't get one you probably think they're bad.  If your primary interest is the good of the service you'll know they are disastrous - I do.

In forces across the country the Special Priority Post Payment schemes are being revised and changes made. The Chief Constables and the police authorities design the schemes which should seek to reward posts which have a higher than normal responsibility; which present difficulties in recruitment and retention or have specially demanding working conditions. The total cost of the scheme should amount to 2% of the total non-ACPO rank police officer pay bill. The individual amounts paid, generally between £500 and £3000, are non-pensionable.

The outcome of this annual revision is usually that some win and some lose. Obviously, them that lose are outraged at losing the money. The amounts maybe insignificant when compared to some chiefs' bonuses but they can make a big difference to an officer of the federated ranks.  Sometimes little or no notice of the loss is given and this is simply bad management.

Why were tutor constables ‘special' last year but not this year? That's one of the questions being asked in Strathclyde and it seems like a reasonable question to me. Other equally unanswerable questions are being asked in other places.

So how did this nonsense all come about?  Well, back in 2001, David Blunkett (then Home Secretary) imposed SPPs despite universal opposition from within the service.  For the first time in history, police officers would be paid on criteria other than rank and length of service - two measures which had stood the test of time for over 90 years. The rank and length of service measures delivered cohesiveness, operational flexibility and an equality of regard for officers regardless of their particular duties. Cops volunteered for ‘specialisms' because they were interested in the work not the SPP.  Blunkett couldn't see and wouldn't hear of the damage he would cause by tearing up that stability.

The Federation, which has no negotiating rights on these payments, has continually expressed its opposition to them and collected some ridiculous examples of different arrangements between forces, even between divisions and departments within forces. And it's by no means just fed reps who are opposed. A few years ago a then Divisional Commander wrote to the SPF as follows:

"One of the great problems is the scope for a lack of consistency in its application. My fears were realised this year when officers in this division, who had been granted payment last year were excluded this year with no reference either to them or even to the Divisional Senior Management. Not only was this decision taken without reference to the views of Divisional Management, the staff affected are entitled to think that we abandoned them, when nothing could be further from the truth".

Unless your name is Jose Mourinho and you know your special status is certain, you'll never be able to predict whether the SPP scheme will recognise you. It really is time for both Sides of the Police Negotiating Board to come up with a better way to use this money. Surely it can be used in a way that's not divisive and demotivating?

How about sticking it into everyone's wages?

Note: The views expressed in The Station Blog are written by neither a Federation representative nor an employee and are not necessarily those of the Joint Central Committee of the Scottish Police Federation.  If you want to comment on the content please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it