Police Staff Pay
& Grading, Explained
The honest answer
There is no single "2026/27 police staff pay scale" table, because — unlike officer pay — it isn't set nationally in one place. It's a two-layer system: a national percentage award, applied to pay grades that every force sets for itself. Anyone offering you one universal table for every force is oversimplifying it.
The two-layer system
The Police Staff Council award
Each year, the employers' side and the joint trade unions (UNISON, Unite, GMB) negotiate a national percentage pay award through the Police Staff Council — this is the equivalent moment to the officer Police Remuneration Review Body process, but negotiated rather than recommended, and on its own separate timetable.
Your force's own grading structure
Each force designs and maintains its own local pay and grading structure — job evaluation, grade boundaries, and the actual pay points a role sits on. The national award is applied as an uplift to that local structure, not to one shared national table.
Why this matters for you
Because grading is local, the same job title in two different forces can genuinely sit on different pay points — one force's "Band D" role isn't necessarily paid the same as another force's role with a similar name. National news about "the 2026/27 police staff pay rise" tells you the percentage uplift, not your actual number, because your actual number depends on which local grade you're already on.
This is genuinely different from officers, where "Constable, Step 4" means the same salary everywhere in England and Wales. If someone gives you one single universal "police staff pay scale" figure for every force, be sceptical of it — it's almost certainly describing one force's structure, not a national one.
The Point 24 overtime bar cuts across every grade
One fixed rule does apply regardless of your local grade: a salary threshold — currently £35,772 — above which premium overtime rates are restricted, a rule dating back to 1996 that hasn't moved in line with salary growth since. It's one of the central demands of the 2026 Police Staff Council claim to have it abolished. See the 2026 pay rise page for the current state of that negotiation.
Free calculator · Police Staff mode
Get a real, personalised working figure
Since there's no single national table, switch the calculator to Police Staff, enter your own salary and hours, and it flags whether you sit above the Point 24 overtime threshold.
Common questions
Is there a national police staff pay scale like there is for officers?
No single national table exists in the way it does for officers. Officer pay follows one national scale set centrally through the Police Remuneration Review Body. Police staff pay is a two-layer system: the Police Staff Council negotiates a national percentage award each year, but the actual pay grades and points those percentages get applied to are set locally by each force's own pay and grading structure.
Why do different forces pay police staff differently for similar roles?
Because each force designs its own local grading structure — job evaluation, grade boundaries, and pay points are set force by force, not nationally. Two forces can both apply the same national Police Staff Council percentage award and still end up paying a similar role differently, because they started from different local grades.
How do I find out what my actual pay grade is?
Your own force's HR system, job description, or payslip will show your specific grade and pay point — that's the only fully accurate source, since it's locally set. This site's free salary calculator can give you a realistic working figure to plan around, but your force's own HR record is the definitive answer.
Does the Point 24 overtime bar apply across all grades?
It applies at a fixed salary threshold — currently £35,772 — regardless of which local grade or pay point you happen to sit on. If your salary is above that line, premium overtime rates are restricted no matter what your job title or grade is called.
When does the 2026/27 pay award actually reach my payslip?
Only once the Police Staff Council negotiation actually settles, and then only once your own force implements it on payroll — two separate steps, each with their own timing. See the dedicated 2026 pay rise page for the current state of that negotiation.