GMP Federation 2026 Pay and Morale Survey Results

92% of Greater Manchester Police officers do not feel fairly paid for the stresses and strains of the job, and 84% are dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with their overall pay and allowances, new figures show.

According to the 2026 Police Federation of England and Wales Pay and Morale Report, 30% of officers frequently cannot meet their household’s financial needs.

67% say their workload is too high or much too high, and 73% have had at least one rest day cancelled in the past 12 months.

36% say they are satisfied with their job, and 10% intend to resign from the service either within the next two years or as soon as they can.

The survey also showed that 67% do not feel valued in the police and 70% would not recommend joining the service.

53% of respondents are not confident in their force’s ability to resource appropriately for day-to-day operational demands, and 47% say their team has been fully staffed on very few or no shifts in the past three months.

75% say their force relies heavily on officer goodwill to meet routine operational demands, and 50% have felt unsafe on duty because of staffing levels in the past three months.

And 69% of officers who responded to the survey are too fatigued to carry out their duties. In Greater Manchester Police, 37% of officers have been physically attacked by a member of the public in the past 12 months, and 85% do not have access to double crewing at all times while on duty.

GMP Federation Chair Mike Peake said the results showed that “burnout is very real” in the force.

He explained: “You look at GMP as a police force, they continue to improve performance wise, but there’s a big consequence to that, and that’s officer burnout. There clearly aren’t enough officers to meet demand in Greater Manchester.

“Greater Manchester has a massive city centre, and the demographics result in the largest number of protests outside of London. We’ve got two massive football clubs, lots of different concert venues. All these need policing.

“In 2027 we’ve now been told that we’ve got 12 Oasis concerts at the Manchester City Stadium next year. We’re hosting the G20, we’re hosting the Conservative Party conference in October, and then we’ve got Christmas to get through.

“And then we’ll start planning for Euro 28, because we’ve got four fixtures, again at the Manchester City Stadium, with a 31-day fan zone to police. So,it is an incredibly busy time.

“We’ve just actually challenged the force to look at ways of how they can negate the additional pressures that are going to place on police officers in GMP over the next 18 months.”

The Pay and Morale Survey also showed that 80% of respondents had experienced stress, low mood or anxiety in the past 12 months, and 46% find their job very or extremely stressful.

49% have sought help for stress, low mood, anxiety or other mental health difficulties, and 72% rate their force’s support for officers and their wellbeing as inadequate or requiring improvement.

The survey also showed the effect that policing has on officers’ personal lives. In Greater Manchester  Police, 34% of officers often or always pressured to work long hours and 50% had annual leave requests refused.

77% of respondents say they have been so fatigued that it has interfered with their family or social life in the past month, and 68% have had to cancel personal plans due to last-minute work requirements in the past 12 months.

43% have worked during annual leave to catch up, 35% have had at least one free day cancelled in the past 12 months and 13% have had their roster changed more than 10 times in the past 12 months.

For the first time, the survey asked about how policing affects parents and carers, with 79% of mothers and 54% of fathers in Greater Manchester Police saying they have had to change job roles or teams to meet their obligations as a parent.

The survey is based on 730 responses received from Greater Manchester Police officers.