FEDCONNECT
FAIR PAY AND CONDITIONS TOP PFEW’S AGENDA
Acting National Chair Tiff Lynch shares the insights presented at the recently held first FedConnect
On 21 November, I had the privilege of opening the first online FedConnect members’ event. This was an opportunity to hear first-
hand about the issues that matter to you – pay, pensions, resources, welfare, and more; and a chance to ask us questions too. I took the opportunity to look back at some recent challenges, and to outline some of the work your Federation, locally and nationally, has been doing. The last few years have been difficult for policing as we see demands increase, and difficult for the Police Federation as we address mistakes of the past. Like you, we do our very best. We don’t
always get it right and when that happens, we learn and put in place processes and procedures to minimise organisational risk moving forward. That is exactly what is happening internally now, through our transformation programme, to ensure that we are match fit to deliver a first-class service for you.
Just a few months ago a new Government was elected to power, and Yvette Cooper was appointed Home Secretary. At the NPCC/APCC conference in November, the Home Secretary announced her vision for policing and plans to consult on it early next year. At first sight, it appears that positive steps will be taken to reform and drive better efficiency and consistency across forces. We will play an active part in the consultation to share your experiences of what works and what doesn’t work. However, a word of warning to the Government – it must be cautious that it doesn’t drive policing back to a culture of what gets counted gets done, and force
20 | POLICE | DECEMBER | 2024
league tables.
While in Opposition, Yvette Cooper, showed herself to be someone who would
“On your behalf, we are making clear that the difficult, demanding, and dangerous job that you do, deserves fair recognition and that includes fair reward.”
listen to concerns we raise on your behalf and to take an active interest in policing issues. We hope that the demands of the role won’t see a reduction in that interest and appetite. I appreciate the Government has its own challenges, not least financial challenges as it implements its manifesto commitments. But on your behalf, we are making clear that the difficult, demanding, and
dangerous job that you do, deserves fair recognition and that includes fair reward. We have made clear our concerns about the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB). We strongly believe the current pay mechanism is flawed, when the government can set the parameters for what the pay review body may consider, and then
government isn’t bound by the pay review body recommendations. It was a positive sign that the Government did accept in full this year’s pay recommendation, which was in pay packets from 1 September. However, moving forward, we believe a much fairer system to negotiate your pay is one that involves collective bargaining. You’ll recall that In June, we ran a
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