One in five police hope to resign in two years

A FIFTH of police officers plan to quit the job by 2025 amid low morale and dissatisfaction over pay, research suggests.

A survey by the Police Federation of England and Wales also found that 19 per cent of officers never or almost never had enough money for essentials. Of the 36,669 officers who responded, 18 per cent said they planned to resign either as soon as possible or within two years.

The top reasons were morale (98 per cent), how the police are treated by government (96 per cent) and pay (95 per cent).

The Police Federation says officers, who cannot strike, have faced a real-terms salary cut of more than 20 per cent since 2010, rising to 30 per cent for the worst paid.

Steve Hartshorn, who chairs the federation, said: ‘Police officers are reaching breaking point and are leaving the service in their droves as every element of their pay and conditions has been gradually eroded in the space of a decade.’

Meanwhile, teaching unions have threatened to strike over the summer exam period – but fear they may not reach the threshold for industrial action. Kevin Courtney of the NEU said ‘nothing is off the table’.

Ballots to meet the threshold for strike action may go down to the wire, with one union fearing results are ‘touch and go’, a source said.