U-turn in police pay date change row

Chiefs had hoped to hang on to employees' salaries until the end of the month so they could bank the interest and use it to plug holes in their budget.

But staff, already fuming about the Government's decision not to give them the same pay deal as their colleagues in Scotland, said it would cripple them financially and with the help of the unions, forced a climbdown.

"Cheshire Police don't have enough money for the policing that the public wants us to do," a source told the Warrington Guardian.

"They are having to make cuts all over the place and one was to change the pay date from the 18th to the end of the month so they get more interest from the bank.

"In principle that's fine. As coppers we want the force to have more resources, but they didn't think it through properly.

"An e-mail was sent round by the chief constable outlining the plan and there was a massive kick-off by staff.

"Most people have their mortages and rates paid by direct debit right after the 18th so if it was brought in between May and June you'd have to pay two mortages out of one pay packet.

"Everything is being cut back to the bone and that, along with the Scotland thing, everyone was ready to go on strike."

An e-mail sent by Cheshire Police's Chief Constable, Peter Fahy, to all staff on January 30, said bosses realised the change would cause some difficulty to staff' and offered an interest-free loan and a one-off cash sum in compensation.

But Ch Con Fahy also warned: "If we can't take this proposal forward, we would have to make cuts in other areas." He pointed to job losses as the most likely.

Two days later, however, Ch Con Fahy, e-mailed staff to announce he was withdrawing the proposal after meetings with Unison and the Police Federation - despite other north west forces implementing them.

He warned: "The fact that we haven't is a potential weakness in our case for more funding."

nick.laleman@guardiangrp.co.uk