Police staff recruited using a 'market rate' salary
Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.24.036271
I note you seek access to the following information:
I'd like to know how many police staff have been recruited using a 'market rate' salary top up.
Please give figures for band N, M,L and S grades and the equivalent administration roles.
I would like to know how much market rate is given, and what is the highest salary given to a band L grade.”
Decision
I have today decided to disclose some of the requested information. Some data has been withheld as it is exempt from disclosure and therefore this response serves as a Refusal Notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) by virtue of the following exemptions:
Section 40(2)(3A)(a) – Personal Information.
Reason for decision
To provide the number of individuals that have been recruited using a ‘market rate salary top up’ broken down by band would be likely to lead to the identification of these individuals. This breakdown is therefore exempt in accordance with the following exemption:
Section 40(2)(3A)(a)- Personal Information - Section 3 of the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018 confirms that information which relates to an identified or identifiable living individual is Personal Data.
The Freedom of Information Act provides an exemption for Personal Data and this is known as the section 40 exemption.
The information sought under your Freedom of Information request includes the following which we consider to be the Personal Data of the individuals identifiable within the parameters of your request:
- The number of individuals who are in receipt of salary top ups at each specific band.
If we were to disclose the band breakdown of the number of individuals in receipt of this salary top up, it would be easy to identify those individuals.
This is because there are far fewer individuals employed at these ranks compared to others, and the numbers are low.
In addition, these salary top ups are only offered in specific circumstances. These are:
- Roles which fall outside of the normal pay structure (bands A-G) because they attract higher salaries in the external market.
- Unique roles which may be difficult to slot into the existing pay structure.
- Specialist/professional roles, which have career progression routes that are not service based, such as the attainment of additional skills or increase in post qualification experience.
Given the fact it is offered only to those holding unique roles, or specialist / professional roles, the chance of identifying the individuals is again increased. Therefore, the information is personal.
Where a request is seeking access to third party personal data, such as in this case, the Section 40(2) exemption is engaged.
To apply the Section 40(2) exemption, the disclosure of the requested information must satisfy either the first, second or third conditions as defined by subsections 3(A), 3(B) and 4(A) of the Act.
The first condition ensures that the exemption would apply in circumstances where the disclosure of the information would breach any of the data protection principles.
Disclosure
Please see the market rate given, broken down by band:
| Grade | Market Related Allowance Staff |
|---|---|
| Band M | £4,900.00 |
| Band M | £4,900.00 |
| Band M | £8,818.00 |
| Band M | £8,818.00 |
| Band M | £16,150.00 |
| Band M | £3,498.00 |
| Band M | £4,900.00 |
| Band S | £7,986.00 |
| Band S | £4,100.00 |
| Band S | £7,986.00 |
| Band S | £1,500.00 |
| Band L | £4,000.00 |
The highest salary that can be given to a Band L is at ‘point 3’:
Point £
1 62,552
2 64,320
3 66,997
In relation to the number recruited, the MPS can confirm that 12 individuals have been in receipt of the top up in the bands referred to. There is no administrative equivalent.