Police Negotiating Board for Scotland: circular 2025-09 - pay agreement

Memorandum

The Official and Staff Sides of the Police Negotiating Board for Scotland have reached agreement on changes to pay and terms and conditions from 1 April 2025. These changes are set out below:

• A 4% increase to pay and relevant allowances (with the exception of on-call, see below) with effect from 1 April 2025
• A 3.5% increase to pay and relevant allowances (with the exception of on-call, see below) with effect from 1 April 2026
• Enhanced Maternity/Adoption Pay from 18 to 26 weeks from 1 April 2026 with the option to take weeks 21-31 at half pay plus half the value of Statutory Maternity Pay
• A sustained and significant increase in on-call allowance rates over the period of the pay agreement with a 20% increase on 1 April 2025 (to £36.40) and a further increase of 20% on 1 April 2026 (to £43.68). Resulting in a cumulative 44% increase in on-call rates over the period of the agreement
• Extend overnight allowance provisions to operational international deployments from 1 April 2025
• All mileage rates to align to HMRC rates resulting in removal of 36.9p mileage rates from 1 April 2025 including electric vehicles
• Agreement to extend public holiday compensation entitlements to inspecting ranks (currently only applicable to constables and sergeants) from date of agreement
• Provide entitlement to mileage on a rest day with less than 18 days’ notice from 1 April 2025

This agreement includes an inflation guarantee to ensure the increase in pay each year is a minimum of one percentage point higher than the average Consumer Price Index (CPI) rate for the year. The full text of the inflation guarantee is attached at Annex A, for information and reference.

This agreement is supported by a commitment to a joint review of annual leave and on-call provisions following completion of the Fraser of Allander Institute Phase Two research. The aim would be to have a joint agreement on the appropriate regulatory approach to these elements by 1 April 2027.

This would include:

• A holistic consideration of the impact of any changes to annual leave provision on the overall wellbeing of police officers in Scotland
• Consideration of approaches to appropriately resolve and/or recognise instances where individuals are exposed to excessive levels of on-call
• A review of the appropriateness of the voluntary status associated with on-call

This agreement is also supported by a specific commitment, by both sides, to proactively engage with the Fraser of Allander Institute to ensure the following areas are considered as part of the ongoing research:

• Whether current pay levels are appropriate and fully consider the unique nature of policing

• Constable Increments and approaches to incremental progression at other ranks (including consideration of Staff Side claim to remove pay point in Inspector pay scale)

• Consideration of the extent to which allowances and other payments appropriately recognise disruption

This agreement is also supported by a commitment, by both sides, to commence meaningful discussion through a working group, within three months of the Fraser of Allender Institute Phase Two Research being published.