The Lancashire Police Federation, the regional arm of a national body which represents police officers, has warned of a ‘policing crisis’ after one in 10 officers said they plan to resign.

This is after the results of the Police Federation of England & Wales’s (PFEW) Pay and Morale Survey 2022 revealed severe struggles faced by rank and file officers and a sense of deepening frustration at the Government for “continuously failing to assist”.

The survey, which saw responses from 36,669 officers in total and 775 responses from Lancashire Constabulary, found 87 per cent of police officers in Lancashire feel worse off financially than they were five years ago.

99 per cent have seen their cost of living increase in the last month, and 16 per cent of officers ’never’ or ‘almost never’ have enough money to cover all their essentials.

Eight in ten (81 per cent) of officers told researchers they were ‘dissatisfied’ or ‘very dissatisfied’ with their overall remuneration.

Household bills are rising sharply and over the past 12 years police officer pay has fallen in real terms by 25 per cent, according to the Lancashire Police Federation.

It’s left 94 per cent of Lancashire officers saying they do not feel respected by the Government.

Seven in 10 said they would not recommend joining the police to others and 11 per cent of respondents told researchers they intend to resign from the police service either ‘within the next two years’ or ‘as soon as [they] can’.

Morale and wellbeing has also taken a hit at the force. Two thirds (68 per cent) said that over the last 12 months their workload has been ‘too high’ or ‘much too high’ and 51 per cent said they find their job ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ stressful.

Eight in ten (81 per cent) said they had experienced feelings of stress, low mood, anxiety, or other difficulties with their health and wellbeing over the last 12 months.

And 14 per cent reported they had suffered one or more injuries that required medical attention as a result of work-related accidents in the last year.

Rachel Hanley, chair of Lancashire Police Federation, said: “Policing urgently needs a fair pay mechanism to restore faith in the Police pay process, we are urging the government to work with the Federation to ensure Police officers receive a meaningful pay rise and support the profession of policing.

"There is quite evidently a growing crisis in the well-being and mental health of those who head towards danger and a defined link between these issues and diminishing pay packages. This uniquely threatens the long-term attraction and viability of the traditional 30-year career.

“We will be writing to our local MPs to urge them to support our campaign for fair pay for police”.

Commenting on the findings, a Home Office spokesperson said: “Policing is a career like no other and we need officers to keep communities safe and cut crime. 

“We recognise the impact of the cost of living, which is why we accepted in full the Police Remuneration Review Body’s recommendation to award a consolidated increase of £1,900 to all ranks of police officers.

“The government remains on track to deliver its pledge to recruit 20,000 police officers by March 2023. 

"The overwhelming majority of new recruits recently surveyed report positive job satisfaction and want to remain officers for the rest of their working lives.”