Scotland's police union rejects pay deal
The Scottish Police Federation's governing body has announced it has rejected the offer of a £565 pay increase.
The Scottish Police Federation's governing body has announced it has rejected the offer of a £565 pay increase.
The Joint Central Committee (JCC) confirmed it was unanimous in its support for staff to dismiss the offer after a meeting in Inverness on Tuesday.
The Police Negotiating Board has been handling the negotiations between the "staff side" - the Scottish Police Federation, the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents and the Scottish Chief Police Officers Staff Association - and the "official side" - the Scottish Police Authority, Police Scotland and ministers from the Scottish Government.
The JCC said it had also agreed to support internal forms of action, which it said was "necessary and proportionate given the continued failure of the official side to return to the negotiating table" to seek a resolution.
The committee is set to meet again on Wednesday.
Calum Steele, the Scottish Police Federation's general secretary, said: "Our executive committee has today unanimously endorsed a series of actions to be undertaken by our members as a result of the failure of the Government to seek to resolve our ongoing pay dispute.
"At their most basic level, these actions amount to the wholesale removal of the good will that the service requires to operate.
"Significantly, this good will and flexibility saves the police service money, and its removal will be both costly and disruptive."
The Scottish Police Federation will communicate with its members on the issue over the coming days, Mr Steele said.
He added: "These actions will be seeking to mitigate the disruptive and costly impact of policing on them and their families, at a time when the cost of living crisis is compounding the mental and physical ill health of officers.
"The resolve of our members is strong. These actions are capable of being escalated, and they are capable of being sustained.
"We do not expect the impact of these actions to be felt by our communities as they are entirely internally focused, and are not in any way designed to diminish the service we provide them."