The revelation of significant differences between what a chief constable is said to earn and what he or she actually receives creates an element of murkiness in a public service that should be transparent.

The salaries of police chiefs are set by the Police Negotiating Board, based on the difficulties and challenges of each post across the country.

But the addition of fringe benefits to those salaries is eroding the differentials.

The situation has arisen because of a significant change in the job market for top cops. In the late 1990s competition for these roles was fierce but that is no longer the case.

The number of people going for senior posts has fallen and, in some cases, the quality of the field is not always the best.

Only last week I was speaking with a police authority chairman who expressed alarm that a prime job had attracted only three applicants.

The situation is made worse by a widening of the gulf between chief officers’ pay and that of others in the public sector.

There was a time when there was hardly any difference between a chief constable’s salary and that of a council chief executive.

Today the chief executive can earn up to 60 per cent more than the chief constable and there might be four or five councils in one police force area.

This recruitment crisis is creating a “transfer market” culture in policing, with authorities deploying Premier League-style tactics to poach and persuade the best candidates.

The margins of this week’s Acpo conference are an ideal opportunity for chairmen of police authorities to spot talent and for chief officers to network.

None of this would be out of place in the private sector, but its emergence in the police service is an uncomfortable development.

The payment of an “honorarium” or a “signing-on” fee does not sit neatly with the public sector ethos. The danger, as with the exposure of MPs’ expenses, is that the public will view senior police officers as greedy, and that will undermine confidence in the service.

Market forces have led to people bending the rules. There is no right or wrong here, just a situation that needs a resolution.

Either police authorities start adhering to strict pay differentials that reflect the challenges of each role, or the payment of perks and fringe payments is made totally transparent.

Publishing one figure, but paying another, is not sustainable.

Andy Hayman is a former Assistant Commissioner in the Metropolitan Police

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