Police Federation has not published accounts for two years as MP claims its CEO Mukund Krishna was paid £600,000 last year

THE boss of a beleaguered body that represents police officers across the country is alleged to have been paid around £600,000 in salary and bonuses last year, an MP has claimed.

Questions over the remuneration of Mukund Krishna, CEO of the Police Federation of England and Wales, were raised in Parliament as the Labour MP alleged he received the eye watering sum in 2024.

The federation, which represents about 145,000 police officers across the country, has refused to confirm Mr Krishna's remuneration.

It comes as Essex News and Investigations can also reveal that the federation has not published annual accounts for 2023 or 2024, covering a period after there were fears over its ability to continue as a going concern.

Top auditors are currently looking at the draft accounts for 2023 to see if they can be signed off.

The federation has repeatedly refused to confirm management consultant Mr Krishna's salary since the CEO role was created for him in mid 2023.

It is classed as a staff association, as opposed to a union as police officers are banned by law from industrial action, but is treated as a public body and subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

But, a number of attempts to confirm his pay via FOIA requests since 2023 have been unsuccessful after the federation used an exemption that it is intended for future publication.

Essex News and Investigations made an FOIA request for his salary in summer 2023 after federation members raised concerns over lack of transparency at the annual conference that year.

In response, the federation would not release the sum, using an exemption that it was due for future publication.

It has since been alleged his annual salary is around £280,000, but that this was topped up by bonuses for dealing with a pension settlement crisis last year.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer earns about £166,000 a year for the role.

Jonathan Hinder, Labour MP for Pendle and Clitheroe, who was formerly a police inspector with the Met, said in a Parliament Home office questions session on September 15 this year:  "The Chief Executive of (the federation) reportedly took over £600,000 last year. Will the new ministerial team commit to reviewing whether this monopoly can really serve the interest of our brave police officers?"

He later posted a video of his speech on X adding:  "(officers) need a democratic staff association that stands up for their best interests - that is not what they are getting from the Police Federation right now."

He told Essex News and Investigations that a number of sources  "close to the matter" advised the salary was around £300,000 with a similar amount as a bonus last year.

He said: "The Police Federation is supposed to be a democratic staff association, but it continues to demonstrate a remarkable lack of transparency across a number of areas, not least regarding its Chief Executive’s salary. Police officers are required to demonstrate honesty and integrity at all times, and it is time the Police Federation did the same”.

The lack of transparency has led to mounting criticism, including the creation of a dedicated whistleblowing account on X.

In November 2024 the whistleblowing account PFEW_Whistle alleged he was earning around £280,000 a year and that he had been awarded an extra bonus for his work to finalise a settlement in a high-profile pension discrimination case.

In a post on November 19, the account posted: "At today’s National Council, PFEW_HQ’s CEO has announced he will be receiving a financial bonus for closing the settlement with Day. That’s on top of his salary, which we can today reveal is approximately £280,000 per annum."

One federation member responded: "Why does someone on £280k need a bonus from a cash-strapped organisation that is financially on its knees?"

In January this year it posted another tweet with images of what it said was written confirmation of the slary being £340,000 with a potential bonus capped at the same amount.

Mr Krishna was brought in to help with running the federation in November 2019 as its Chief Operating Officer.

The subsequent role of CEO was created for him to deal with the fallout of a pension case employment tribunal outcome in 2023.

The tribunal found it had discriminated against officers who had previously made claims against the Government after being moved onto pension schemes that reduced their benefits.

The full implications of the settlement are yet to be realised, but the federation hit further financial difficulties in May this year after it agreed to settle for £15 million a claim brought by more than 19,000 officers whose data protection was breached during two ransomware cyber-attacks the federation suffered in March 2019.

The organisation is bound by the The Police Federation (England and Wales) Regulations 2017 which state that: "After the end of each financial year the national treasurer must publish the branch accounts and the federation accounts for that year, together with a copy of the auditor’s report on the Federation accounts, on the internet."

Its first set of accounts for the calendar year 2017 were not published until May 2020, followed by those for 2018 in September the same year and its 2019 accounts came out in February 2021.

Its accounts for 2020 were not published until May 2022, those for 2021 came out in October 2023 and 2022's were not published until January 2025.

There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by the late publications.

In response to a new FOIA request from Essex News and Investigations this year, which argued the salary had sill not been published two years on, the federation said: "The Police Federation of England and Wales remains of the intention to publish information relating to the CEO’s salary; however, this data remains for future publication.  

"The PFEW financial accounts run from 1st January to year end annually and the 2023 accounts are anticipated to be published by the end of this summer, while the 2024 accounts will follow suit by the end of this calendar year."

The 2023 accounts remained outstanding today, September 24 2025, now in the autumn.

The 2022 accounts were so late that in the accompanying annual report it detailed events that had taken place in the following year.

The 2022 annual report from Mr Kempton said: "There are no significant events in 2022 however subsequently on the 6th of June 2023, Police Federation of England and Wales received the Employment Tribunal’s judgment of the police pension discrimination claim, brought against PFEW. The Tribunal ruled in favour of the claimants on a number of claims and in July 2023, PFEW decided not to pursue an appeal against the judgment issued.

"This extraordinary depletion of our cash reserves reduces the organisation's resilience against future events. The organisation would find it hard placed to survive another unexpected loss of similar magnitude. Nonetheless, we have prepared these financial statements under the going concern assumption."

He claimed in the report that the federation would become more transparent about its finances and other areas.

He added: "As an improvement to the organisation, to limit the potential of such events recurring, we have embarked on a journey to improve the management structure and culture within the organisation. The aim is to increase professionalism, accountability and transparency in all areas, resulting in savings from our current operations in the coming year, which will be directed to this remedy as well."

An independent review of the federation was started under Mr Krishna which published an interim report in November 2024.

This revealed that its accounts for 2023 had been available in a draft format since at least then.

The report blasted the federation for failures in publishing accounts and "poor formal record keeping."

It said: "Minutes were not routinely taken of meetings other than at formal Boards and Council; there is no indication whether papers promised to be distributed to Boards were in fact sent out."

An update published this April released a series of recommendations on how to improve its accountability.

Former Met Police officer Steve Perkins, who was a federation member for 23 years, said: "I often felt that the federation lacked transparency and openness. I know that many officers felt that it was a boys club and almost masonic-like at the very centre.

"Many officers also felt that the federation rarely fought their corner and to learn that they fail to publish their accounts on time and refuse to state or confirm the salary of the CEO only proves further that they are failing to be transparent to its members."

After Mr Krishna and Mr Kemption were contacted for comment, a federation spokesperson claimed there was no statutory deadline for publication of its accounts.

They said: "We are committed to full transparency. The 2023 accounts have been prepared and are currently undergoing independent review by KPMG, one of the Big Four audit firms. They will be published shortly, with the 2024 accounts to follow soon after. We have, of course, kept the Home Office fully up to date at every stage.

"The federation has been dealing with two historic group action claims which meant that (its) going concern status was at risk. Under the CEO, both cases have been settled, and the federation's financial position is more certain, and so accounts can now be passed to KPMG to be signed off.

"On the salary, I think it is fair that we decline to give a running commentary on speculation on social media and elsewhere and publish formally in the standard way.

"Details will be published in the audited accounts in the normal way. Publication in the accounts is standard practice across both the public and private sectors, and the federation will continue to follow that approach.

"Transparency and accountability are central to the federation’s transformation programme, and we will continue to meet those obligations.

"Since the appointment of a CEO, the organisation has stabilised its finances, settled major legal claims, and launched Operation Peridot — a five-year programme of reform focused on advocacy, culture, governance, and financial resilience. It has strengthened engagement with members and branches, commissioned an independent review, and is driving the most significant changes in the federation’s history to ensure it delivers effectively for all members."

A Home Office spokesperson said: "The Home Office is clear that the Police Federation needs to operate with high standards of transparency and act in the interests of its members."

It added that it was "aware of the late publication of the annual accounts' and 'has brought this to the attention of the Police Federation."

The spokesperson added:  "An independent report published earlier this year made recommendations on improving the federation, including the management and transparency of their accounts. The federation is due to bring forward a transformation plan in response to that report imminently."