NEWS
Officers make the most of the North Wales Police Federation welfare van.
COP26: Federation lobbying for fairer mutual aid payments
The Federation is pushing the Home Office and police chiefs to overhaul the “damaging and divisive” mutual aid payment system after COP26 further demonstrated flaws in the outdated policy. Last month saw the biggest mutual
aid operation our country has ever seen as 13,000 officers from across the United Kingdom attended the climate change conference. From day one, the Federation was
involved in the complex planning process with chiefs, mutual aid liaison officers and event organisers to ensure the welfare of 8,500 members deployed to Glasgow was looked after, with the basics such as comfortable accommodation, transport and food. Police Federation welfare vans were
there for officers throughout the event to give out hot drinks and soup to boost morale, while 32 visible reps were present to directly help with any concerns. However, it soon became apparent
there was a larger issue looming with some members not being fairly recompensed for being held in reserve on their rest days, among other issues relating to proper compensation. Officers were held in reserve for the whole time they were in Scotland and had to be available to be deployed within four hours on their rest days, placing restrictions on them and preventing them having a genuine day off to recover.
“Local Federation branches pressed
their respective chief officer teams to do the right thing and fairly recompense members for the unprecedented impact on their rests days while deployed at COP26,” explained Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) National Board member Simon Kempton. “However, less than half of forces decided to pay any form of rest day working payment or bonus which is deeply disappointing.” Officers who were self-isolating after
being tested positive for Covid were also unable to claim overnight allowances due to them no longer being deployable in reserve. The Federation negotiated directly with
police chiefs and secured a £50 a night bonus for them. Simon added: “COP26 has also proven
that the overnight allowance system is outdated, along with other allowances related to mutual aid, and desperately needs overhauling. “We feel the £50 needs urgent review given the serious impact on our members’ non-working time when away from home on deployment – not to mention a disjointed, postcode lottery approach. “How is it fair that our colleagues,
standing together, all doing the same job, are being treated differently depending on which force they are from? It is damaging and divisive and we must have a unified approach moving forward.” The Federation believes there should be a two-tier overnight allowance and, if
Officers take a break for refreshments.
members are held in reserve, they should receive more than that – akin to officers in Scotland. A PFEW working group has now been
set up to collate evidence which will be presented at a National Police Chiefs’ Council meeting to press chief constables to review mutual aid payments – which have not been touched since the Winsor Review a decade ago. “We are pushing for standardisation so
every officer will know where they stand, and we won’t have to keep negotiating on a case-to-case basis. No matter how successful the Federation has been at negotiating these payments, it is only right our dedicated and hard-working members feel valued and know exactly where they stand when they volunteer to be away from their families,” Simon concluded.
05 I POLICE I DECEMBER 2021
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