Conference 2002 - Secretaries Report
Secretary's Report
I present to conference the annual update on Federation activities since our last
Conference in 2001.
The police service at the moment is embroiled in painful negotiations at PNB on
a reform package of pay and allowances. Although we do not have a position at
PNB, we do have a parity agreement on pay so the outcome of those negotiations
are obviously important. Throughout the progress of the Police Reform debate
we have maintained close contact with our friends on the staff side of PNB as
well as our Branch Board colleagues in the City and Metropolitan forces. We
should not loose sight of the fact that the Police Reform process involves much
more than a reform of pay and conditions. The bill contains much on the
administration of justice, and police discipline procedures. The bill when passed
through Parliament will have far reaching effects on the way we do our job.
We wait to see what will happen with the pay negotiations. When we have the
answer then we will need to decide how we should move forward.
We continue to have difficulties within our negotiating framework with
Management. We still await a Force Conference simply to ratify many
outstanding agreements. We still face delay in negotiating arrangements
on Working Time Directive. We have recently succeeded in securing an
agreement on sick pay regulations which has taken about 18 months simply to
sign off. An agreement on Maternity and Paternity leave took almost as long to
agree. We still have problems with negotiation and we still need an effective and
independent referral system.
During the year we saw the much-heralded Government Consultation paper on
the future of British Transport Police. There was much there that we have been
seeking over the past years. A favourable and encouraging response was
formulated and we now wait to see the result. As we had to wait nearly two years
from when Government first indicated that a paper would be produced until
production of that paper it would not be sensible to expect much movement in the
short term.
The world was shocked by the events of September 11th. In common with
other agencies we have done all we can to support our law enforcement
colleagues who were involved. The UK Government introduced new anti-
terrorism measures which included the extension of jurisdiction for British
Transport Police, a measure we have sought for many years and had been
promised action on through three different parliamentary periods. When it came
down to it, there were little objections and we were left to wonder why
successive Governments had found it so difficult to keep their promise on this
issue. Government certainly should not expect our thanks or praise for waiting
until such an horrendous act forced them into taking an eminently sensible
course of action. The whole subject of our jurisdiction was raised last year
at the Annual Conference of the Police Federation of England and Wales.
A motion, put forward by the City of London Joint Branch Board called for
support to be given by the Joint Central Committee to the extension of
Jurisdiction. We are indebted to Will Parsons and his Board for bringing this
Issue to the floor of Conference. The debate was interesting with many speakers
In favour of the motion. At the vote the motion was overwhelmingly carried.
Following the debate we were approached and congratulated by many J.B.B.
officials and this shows the depth of the relationship we have built with other
Federations.
The building of such a relationship is furthered by spending time at their
Conferences. Again this year we attended the Annual Conferences of all the UK
Police Federations as well as several Joint Branch Board Open Meetings. We
also attended the Canadian Police Association Annual Conference and we were
invited to send our previous General Secretary to the New Zealand Police
Association Conference where he was the keynote speaker on the subject
Privately Funded Policing in a public arena. It is an honour for this Federation
to take a place on the world stage and reflects much of the work that we have
done in increasing the public profile of this Federation.
During this year we have held a London Open Meeting for a members. As usual
With such events it was poorly attended by the members. Our thanks go to the
Chief Constable who attended and addressed many issues directly to the
members.
We continue as members of the Standing Committee of Police in Europe.
This organisation has now taken a decision to join together with another Police
Representative body in Europe to form a new organisation titled European
Confederation of Police (Euro Cop). By virtue of being members of S.C.O.P.E.
We become inaugural members of Euro Cop and take a seat on the Committee.
This seat will give us wider exposure to policing in Europe and enable us to track
Developments there which will affect us in due course. Our foresight in
becoming members of S.C.O.P.E. some nine years ago will bear fruit with this
wider exposure.
As usual we continue to search out the best deals for our Member Services. We
Are introducing a new kind of health care through a trust fund. We thank all our
providers for their help and assistance.
