Conference 2005 - Secretaries Report
I present my Annual Report on Federation activities since our last Conference in Brighton.
Following the successful conclusion of negotiations surrounding Redundancy and Resettlement, Dog Handlers Allowances and the working day, the requirement under the Railways and Transport Safety Act to mirror Police Regulations, with certain exceptions, continues to dominate negotiations with Force Headquarters.
Currently under examination are regulations concerning recall to duty and essential user allowances. In some ways it would have been easier to switch to Police Regulations in one go, we were prevented from doing this by the Forces initial negotiations being limited to 3 items. Whilst we have retained certain elements of our conditions, for example Redundancy and Resettlement, the move to mirror Police Regulations has not always been beneficial for instance our old Acting and Temporary promotion procedures being superior.
By the end of this year we should have concluded our change to Police Regulations.
One area where we are different to our Home Office colleagues is that of Pensions. With recent increases in stocks and shares I can report that a substantial portion of our current pensions deficit has been wiped out. Changes to Government pensions legislation from next year will mean alterations to our current scheme for new members. They will have to work for 35 years to gain a full pension, as will our colleagues in Home Department Forces. For those retiring from April next year there will be new regulations governing commutation figures, generally these will be higher than currently achievable. Pensions Management will publish full details.
As I reported last year rumours of proposals to merge the London Underground Area with the Metropolitan Police Force continue to surface. We have maintained our position of lobbying to prevent this idea from gaining momentum. The establishment of a properly constituted Police Authority can only help to protect us against the ill conceived ideas of certain politicians and elements within the Metropolitan Police Service who wish a merger to take place. Their publicity-seeking stance, if it were ever successful, would lead to the fragmentation and I believe the eventual loss of the British Transport Police Force's ability to provide a fully integrated response to policing the United Kingdoms Railway Infrastructure and indeed conflict with current Government Policy.
Whilst still early days our new Police Authority must be congratulated on the efforts they have made to secure substantial extra funding for the Force. The commitment and enthusiasm shown by the new members of the Police Authority is in stark contrast to that shown by certain elements that remain of the previous Police Committee hopefully their influence will bode well for the future.
The vast majority of new delegates have now received various training packages to assist them in carrying out their role. The cost of training is substantial but it is vital so that we may provide a comprehensive service to our members.
To that end we continue to evaluate and introduce new member services and have recently taken the unique step in retaining our own solicitor to provide civil advice to our members. Initial set-up costs are now starting to be recovered and we are convinced that with the direct employment of a solicitor we can seek to minimise the spiralling cost of civil actions.
To assist with the complex area of pensions we have also recently retained the services of Tony Patterson as an advisor.
Two receptions have been held during the past year, one in Parliament and one a joint reception with the Metropolitan Police Constables Branch Board in the Mayor's Office. Both were extremely well attended and were an excellent opportunity to publicise the work of the Federation and indeed the Force.
With the influx of new recruits the Federation has more members than for a considerable number of years, workloads for delegates have increased but I believe we are in a better position than ever to provide a comprehensive service to our members.
