PARTY CONFERENCES
of the careful and competent driving member of public. These examples of successes are down
to the relationships its representatives build with Parliamentarians, and the hard work that goes on behind the scenes to educate through speaking with them directly, in order to get them on board and gain their support, eventually leading to important changes in the law to ensure police officers receive the right protections. This happens regularly throughout the year, including this year, whereby PFEW representatives attended the Conservative and Labour party conferences. First was the Conservative Party Conference, which ran from 1 October to 4 October in Manchester. Keynotes speeches did not mention much about policing, with the Home Secretary reiterating police officers must investigate every theft. However, many MPs, both old and
Parliamentarians, and by educating them about the real pressures faced by our members, we have brought about change, and will continue to effect change through our campaigning.” Following this was the Labour Party Conference on 8 October to 11 October in Liverpool, where they pledged to rebuild neighbourhood policing with the aim of introducing 13,000 more neighbourhood police and PCSOs. Like the Conservatives, there was a significant amount of support for our #SimplifyDG6 campaign, which aims to identify and amplify the practical difficulties faced by responding police officers, investigative officers and detectives in redacting case material
misconduct plans the NPCC and government wants, where our concerns were made clear, and understood.” In August the Home Office has
“We are continuing to have that physical presence, that ability to link in with MPs and form relationships to achieve legislative change which a core pillar of our work and always will be.”
new, dropped in to engage with PFEW representatives in a breakout room, to gain an understanding of current policing challenges, and what needs to change to enable officers to meet those challenges. Speaking on how he found the Conservative Party Conference opportunity, PFEW National Chair Steve Hartshorn, said: “By attending the Conference, we were given a great opportunity to engage with MPs as well as the Policing Minister, to talk to them face to face honestly about the concerns of our members, especially in relation to pay and conditions. “Another large focus has been on our #SimplifyDG6 campaign, which has received cross party support, and we spoke at length about concerns in relation to the forthcoming misconduct and vetting changes. “It is also a chance for them to ask us questions as well about the pressures of policing and talk to us properly. I think it was very beneficial because it is direct access which encourages future conversation to take place, and then they can share that information with their colleagues when they return to the conference or back to Parliament. “Engagement with MPs is a vital,
core part of the work we undertake on behalf of members behind the scenes. By building stronger relationships with
at the pre-charge stage in accordance with the prevailing Crown Prosecution Service Disclosure Guidance 2020 – made effective from 1 January 2021. PFEW is lobbying the Government to highlight the need for amendments to the General Data Protection Regulation, Data Protection Act 2018, and the disclosure guidance itself to rectify the damaging and time-consuming problems the current legislation creates. Support for the Medals for Heroes
campaign is also snowballing and has rapidly gained cross-party backing since it was launched alongside Bryn Hughes, father of PC Nicola Hughes who was murder on duty alongside her colleague PC Fiona Bone. We are lobbying for the creation of a new posthumous medal for emergency workers which will be handed to the family members to honour their loved ones’ sacrifice in the line of duty. On the Labour Party Conference, Deputy National Chair and Parliamentary Co-lead Tiff Lynch, said: “There was a lot of agreement and positive conversations, with a continued commitment to work with us on the issues our members face. “The engagement event was really well
attended, and we had the Shadow Home Secretary, Yvetter Cooper MP, and new Shadow Policing Minister, Alex Norris MP, take the time out to speak to us which was very much appreciated. “There were also some really good, healthy discussions around the
announced multiple, significant changes to the police officer dismissal process, following a four-month review, looking at its effectiveness. Under the new system, a finding of gross misconduct will automatically result in a police officer’s dismissal, unless exceptional circumstances apply. Chief constables will return to chairing misconduct panels and will be handed greater powers to decide whether officers should be dismissed and will be given a right to challenge decisions. Legally qualified chairs (LQCs) have been removed from their position and will instead be legally qualified persons (LQPs), providing independent advice. The outcome will be determined by a
majority panel decision and hearings will continue to be held in public to maintain transparency.
Tiff continued: “We are fully engaging with the Home Office workshops around all tranches of the Dismissals Review. This is ongoing with at least two workshops a week looking at all the aspects, before any regulation changes are made. “The key takeaway from the Shadow
Policing Minister was that willingness to engage with us and learn from us which is really positive. “We also had a number of new MPs who hadn’t previously joined us who were keen to support us with our engagement and roundtable events.” Parliamentary Co-lead Belinda Goodwin added: “We are continuing to have that physical presence, that ability to link in with MPs and form relationships to achieve legislative change which is a core pillar of our work and always will be. “I want to thank all MPs who took the time out of their day to engage with us. We thought it was an incredibly productive event and we were delighted to hear of their continued support for our officers across England and Wales. “The current issues facing police officers undermine their capability to successfully protect the public to the best of their ability and we welcomed their enthusiasm to work in partnership with us to resolve the challenges faced and maximise the safety of constituents
19 | POLICE | DECEMBER | 2023
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