Concerns raised over Guernsey Police pay bonus

Deputy Marc Leadbeater has asked if other emergency service workers will be treated in a similar way

Concerns have been raised after the announcement of a pay bonus to be given to police staff in Guernsey.

Guernsey Police officers up to the rank of inspector are set to receive a £5,000 recognition and retention payment.

Deputy Marc Leadbeater, Vice President of Health and Social Care (HSC), questioned how other emergency service workers would be treated and if they would see a similar bonus.

Mr Leadbeater said: "We have staff groups that are stretched, doing a lot of overtime... but unfortunately we haven't got the luxury of having £5K each that we can pay them so I think it is a fairly dangerous precedent personally."

He added: "It will be interesting to see how Home Affairs have half a million pounds spare kicking around in their budget.

"A lot of the staff that work for us [Health and Social Care] don't earn anywhere near what a police officer will earn, so £5,000 to them would be a massive welcome bonus."

Home Affairs said staff had been operating under "sustained pressure for some years" with officers working longer hours and undertaking ever-more complex case work.

Deputy Rob Prow has defended the decision to pay out a £5,000 recognition and retention payment

It said officers have been covering an ever-increasing number of unsociable shifts, working additional overtime, having leave and rest-days cancelled and handling heavy workloads.

Deputy Rob Prow, President of Home Affairs, defended the £5,000 recognition and retention payment.

He said: "The police are suffering from recruitment and retention problems and it is quite obvious that it is putting a huge pressure on the force.

"The opportunity to fund it has come from the underspend, i.e. money that we will be saving from the allocated budget.

"The police officer's job is a very difficult and challenging one, there's some very difficult areas and, increasingly so, we are finding it more and more difficult to retain the officers we have."