Wow, where did 2023 go? This year I’ve continued to pump out more of the best free police promotion content in the UK, with content also demonstrably transferable abroad. No less than 29 blogs added to the extensive back catalogue, that’s a ton of free meaningful support to get your teeth into. Not to mention the 26 podcasts and 70 more videos to aid aspiring officers thinking during 2023.
I hope all this free content has helped you. If it has, please pass the ladder down and share with others. Also, I’m usually up daily from 5am, powered by coffee and inspiration so you might consider contributing to keep the coffee flowing and help with the costs of generating all this free content for cops. Officers have often succeeded using only free materials, digesting this as part of their leadership CPD, well in advance of a promotion process.
Of course, like many officers you can choose to invest in yourself and utilise my tried and tested Masterclass and premium downloadable toolkits. These give structured and detailed support, aligned to each element of the process. They are particularly helpful if you’re under time pressure and need to hit the ground running for effective preparation.
That said, and without further ado, here’s my top five blogs from 2023 to keep you briefed during this festive period…
2023/23 Police Salary & Progression – A Fair Deal?
“Today’s announcement that police officer pay for 2023/24 will increase by 7 per cent across all ranks is a step in the right direction, but still falls short of the real-term pay cut officers have suffered since 2000.” – PFEW statement
This summer saw a 7% pay award for all police officers up to ACC / Commander rank in the 2023 pay settlement. This news was welcomed by most, taking an experienced PC to £46k (UK average salary £32k), with Sergeants and above into the higher earnings bracket. Another worthwhile reason to invest in yourself to achieve promotion in 2024!
In this blog, I summarised what that meant for each rank exactly, how officers can expect their pay to grow with experience, how police officer salary has changed over time, discussed whether the award is ‘fair’, and how this compares to other sectors.
Here’s my quick infographic where I summarised the award’s fairness (or otherwise):
Since this post, I did a follow-up for Police Scotland based on their (very predictable) 7% award announced a couple of months later. This took the most experienced PCs up to £48k and into the Scottish higher earners bracket. Though it received a more mixed reception than south of the border, given the Scottish Police Federation set out their stall for 8.5%.
PSNI have since also agreed a 7% pay rise for its officers, with the salary scale continuing to follow England and Wales closely.
Chief Constable Waives Promotion Boards
“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” – Seneca
Before he was suspended, the Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall Police, Will Kerr KPM, OBE, waived Sergeant promotion interview boards for aspiring Constables. This was big news and a bold move. In effect, this secured candidates in this all-important first line leadership position without too much competition.
In this blog I lay out how this came about, why it’s OK as part of the rich tapestry of promotion processes around the UK, what it means for candidates, and how you can learn from it. I also recorded a short podcast recording my thoughts on the matter (see below).
Police Legal Exam Faces Axe in New SIPP Promotion Process
“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” – John F. Kennedy
In September, I reported on how the College of Policing’s little-known scheme to replace the NPPF. This is part of a big shake-up of the police promotion framework, which even involves amending the CVF. All discovered via an FOI request, because at the time nothing was communicated publicly by the College.
The big news was the proposal to remove the legal exam from the front end of the process. This caused a great deal of feedback and concern among many officers after my reporting on the scheme, few of whom had hitherto heard any change to NPPF was on the cards.
The other big news was that despite having an objective to simplify the promotion process, the proposed SIPP solution was clearly far more complex, entailing a lot of online learning and CPD requirements for example, compared to NPPF. Plus, the line manager is reintroduced as a gateway. My bespoke infographic summarised the 2+ year sequence and the proposed new promotion process, which I likened at the time as going from the current 400M hurdles… to the 3000M steeplechase!
Since then, the College walked back from its original designs, which I covered in a follow-up blog. While the (as yet unpublished) trial forces will still commence SIPP during 2024, the timeframes for everyone else are now estimated to be around 2027. So before this comes in to shake up promotion, taking smart action now to secure your ambitions under the current process is something you might want to commit to!
No PDR? No Pay Increase!
Given the growing importance of PDRs, another popular blog was about the commencement of the police Pay Progression Standard (PPS). The PPS had slipped under the radar of most cops. This significant change in Police Regulations, along with removal of the much-dreaded ‘ARC’, came into force on 1st April 2023 across England and Wales.
Gone are the days of automatically moving to the police pay scales within your rank. Now, you must demonstrate competence, have a PDR, and be up to date on training, to get your annual pay increases. Officers around the country are quietly coming to realise this; hopefully not too late for those due their salary increase in April…
Given that progression within the rank constitutes the biggest pay rise for most officers each year, these changes are a massive deal in today’s challenging financial situation. In plain English, here’s the checklist I outlined:
- Have completed an annual Personal Development Review (PDR)
- Are not subject to formal action (Stages 1, 2 or 3) of the Unsatisfactory Performance or Attendance Procedures
- Have completed any relevant training required
- You’ve done the PDRs and assessed the PPS of anyone directly under your command (Sergeants and Inspectors take note!)
Casey Review on the Met Police: 10 Minute Briefing
The Casey Review is a comprehensive and important report for the Metropolitan Police and wider UK policing. Unfortunately however, we live in an age of short attention spans, and most will simply not be motivated enough to spend days reading an epic novel-sized policing report. Therefore, Rank Success produced a 10 minute overview video to provide the gist and encourage more officers, senior leaders, and other stakeholders to take note.
In this blog, I summarise the main findings of this insightful and impactive report. Some of the findings on leadership and change were among the most damning. How could you paint a brighter future?
“To undertake a review into the standards of behaviour and internal culture of the Metropolitan Police Service and make recommendations on the actions required.” – Casey Review purpose
I’ll let you watch the video and browse more to absorb the content. For now and to answer ‘what next’ in terms of change for the better, you might be interested in my blog, The Only Way is Ethics.
I hope you’ve found this review of my 2023 content helpful. See also my top 5 podcasts and top 5 videos blogs for another recap on important content to support your promotion journey.
Kind Regards, Steve
Want to go further right now? Hit the ground running with your promotion preparation. Get your personal digital promotion toolkit, and/or my Police Promotion Masterclass. You can also contact me to arrange personal coaching support. If you first want to explore completely free content, I have a collection of videos, eGuides, a podcast.