The President of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents joined a demonstration yesterday outside the Scottish Parliament, protesting the lack of a pay deal for officers.

In May, a claim was submitted for a 5.7% pay rise, but five months on negotiations remain ongoing.

Chief Superintendent Rob Hay, President of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents (ASPS), said: “We went to the demonstration to show that this is an issue that unites officers of all ranks in Scotland.

“Police officers in Scotland are hurt and confused by where we find ourselves. We look down south, where Chief Constables in England and Wales asked the Police Remuneration Review Body for a 6% rise for their officers. They didn’t get that as a result of the mechanism, but that’s what the chiefs were asking for.

“We look across at our public sector colleagues in the NHS in Scotland, and they’ve been awarded a 5.5% pay rise. We work hand in glove with them every day, often on lifesaving operations, and officers just don’t understand why we’re now into October and a similar deal hasn’t been agreed for police officers in Scotland.

“Why aren’t police officers valued the same in Scotland as they are in England? Why isn’t a police officer valued the same as a nurse or a physical therapist working for the NHS?

“We are really conscious of the lack of industrial rights of police officers. We find ourselves the last part of the public sector to have a fair deal agreed.”

Rob pointed out that, although officers in Scotland earn slightly better salaries than those in England and Wales, there is not a significant difference, because of higher levels of tax.

He said: “Here in Scotland we have the Police Negotiating Board, which means we’re in a better position than officers in England and Wales, but it needs to deliver appropriate results for officers.

“The Scottish Government likes to talk about how when you look at the pay scales for police officers, they are better paid in Scotland than they are in England. But there’s very little difference in the take-home pay of Scottish and English police officers once you’ve adjusted for the higher levels of tax in Scotland.”

Rob said that officers at all ranks of the police, including his members in ASPS, deserved a fair pay deal.

He said: “The number of senior officers in policing has dropped significantly over the past 10 years. A massive 97% of our members work more than their workforce agreement hours – there’s a huge amount of discretionary effort that the service relies on.

“So we think that those officers – who are involved in leadership of the most critical and sensitive investigations, the most challenging firearms and public order operations, and the day-to-day running of the police in Scotland – should have a fair pay deal as well.

“Ideally we would want this to be agreed ahead of Christmas, but the longer this drags on the less likely that looks to happen, and that gives us significant cause for concern.”