Police Staff Pay Rise 2026: When Will It Be Paid?
“Police staff” are the civilian backbone of every force — control room, forensics, custody, admin, many PCSOs. Their pay is set completely separately from warranted officers, which is why the 2026 timing is different. Here’s where the 2026/27 award stands and when it’s likely to be paid.
- Police staff ≠ police officers. Staff are on the Police Staff Council (PSC) pay spine, negotiated by unions and employers — not the PRRB
- 2026 claim: 9% or £2,700 (whichever is greater) on all PSC pay points, plus a £15/hour minimum and more annual leave
- Not yet agreed. The claim went in April 2026; talks are due later in the summer of 2026
- When paid: PSC awards take effect from 1 September and are backdated — expect back pay once a deal is reached, historically in the autumn
- Officers are separate: a 3.5% rise from 1 September 2026 was confirmed for officers via the PRRB — see our pay scales page
Who counts as “police staff”?
Police staff are the civilian employees who keep a force running: 999 and 101 call handlers, control room dispatchers, forensic and scenes-of-crime officers, custody detention officers, intelligence analysts, finance and HR, fleet and estates, and in most forces the Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs). They are not warranted officers — they don’t hold police powers of arrest — and that distinction is exactly why their pay is set through a different route.
Why police staff pay is set separately
Police officer pay (constable to chief officer) is recommended by the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) and approved by the Home Secretary. For 2026/27 that produced a confirmed 3.5% rise from 1 September 2026.
Police staff pay is different. It’s negotiated on the Police Staff Council (PSC) between the Trade Union Side (UNISON, Unite and GMB) and the Employers Side (forces and Police and Crime Commissioners). Because it’s a negotiation rather than a review-body recommendation, the timeline is its own — and it usually lands later in the year than the officer settlement.
The 2026 police staff pay claim
Following a member consultation, the unions submitted a one-year claim for 2026 in April. It asks for:
| Element | What the unions are asking for |
|---|---|
| Headline pay | +9% or £2,700 on all PSC pay points, whichever is greater |
| Allowances | +9% on standby and overnight away-from-home allowances |
| Minimum rate | A floor of £15 per hour |
| Annual leave | 25 days on appointment (up from 24); 30 days after 5 years (up from 29) |
| Overtime bar | Abolish the bar at pay point 24 (£35,772) so all staff can earn premium overtime |
So when will it actually be paid?
Two things drive the timing. First, PSC awards are normally effective from 1 September — the police staff pay year — and any increase is backdated to that date. Second, the deal has to be negotiated: talks were expected later in the summer of 2026 once the Employers Side had consulted forces and PCCs.
In practice that means the increase is unlikely to show in your pay packet on 1 September itself. Based on how recent rounds have run, a realistic expectation is that a settlement is reached in the autumn, after which the new rates are applied and you receive back pay to 1 September 2026. If negotiations run long, the back-pay period simply grows.
The overtime bar — the detail worth watching
One part of the claim matters more than it looks: removing the overtime bar at pay point 24. Right now, police staff earning above £35,772 basic can’t be paid premium overtime rates — a rule set back in 1996, when far fewer operational staff earned that much. Many custody, control-room and investigative roles now sit above the bar and effectively do unpaid or flat-rate extra hours. If the bar is lifted, a large group of experienced staff would start earning enhanced overtime for the first time.
Check your back pay when it lands
When a backdated award is finally paid, the single most useful thing you can have is your own record of every shift and every overtime hour since 1 September. Payroll backdating errors are common, and a shift-by-shift log is how you spot them.
Track every shift and overtime hour
Overtime Live logs your hours and premium rates in real time — free, no account, no subscription. When your PSC back pay arrives, you’ll know if it’s right.