Police get four hours overtime for just answering a phone call after their shift has ended

Published 03rd Feb 2010

Police are being paid hundreds of pounds in overtime for answering the telephone once their shift has finished.

Officers are entitled to a minimum four hours' pay, at a rate of time-and-a-third, simply for picking up the phone and making a decision while off duty.

This could earn an officer more than £100 for answering a single call.
police

Hefty entitlements: A police officer can earn more than £100 just for answering a single phone call under overtime arrangements

The Home Office published its overtime rule book yesterday as it began negotiations with police over how to slash the annual £500million overtime bill, which boosts police salaries by the equivalent of almost £3,500 per officer.

Other payments include double time for working on a rest day at short notice.

Officers who work on Bank Holidays can get double time plus a day off.

In some cases PCs are taking home £60,000 a year with overtime.

Earnings of more than £50,000 are becoming commonplace.

Ministers say a 'culture' of expecting overtime payments has crept into the service, and claim that £70million a year can be slashed from the expenditure.

Policing minister David Hanson said talks had already begun with the Police Negotiating Board about the pay rates.

He said a lot of overtime could be saved by restructuring rotas and recruiting special constables, who work without pay.

But critics point out that previous attempts at restructuring overtime payments over the past two decades have failed - most recently in 2002, under the then Home Secretary David Blunkett.

Rank-and-file police denied officers were making claims for answering single phone calls, and said they would seek payment only if they were on the phone for a number of hours dealing with a complex investigation.

Paul McKeever, chairman of the Police Federation, said: 'I appreciate that in tough economic times there is a need for belts to tighten.

'But we cannot just walk away from criminals or turn our backs on crimes being committed. Policing is a 24/7 job.'

Matthew Elliott, of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'Overtime will inevitably be necessary in an emergency service, but the absurd extremes of some arrangements need to be curbed.

'People will be very surprised to learn that their money is being handed out in return for things as simple as answering the occasional phone call. Reforming these rules would save money and bring the police on to a more normal set of working practices.'

On the day the Home Office demanded the savings, the Tories produced figures showing that the department lavished more than £3.5million on hotel rooms last year. With 40,229 bookings, this equates to an average of £91 a room.

Source: ' Daily Mail '

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