“Federation must be united to represent all members”

THE Police Federation of England and Wales would have more power if it worked together, the chairman of South Yorkshire Police Federation has said.

Neil Bowles told CopperConnection that there is “too much squabbling between rank committees” and that nationally the Fed must be united. An interim report from the Independent Review into the Fed said the National Body had “substantially” lost the confidence of its members and must change “fundamentally” to avoid becoming irrelevant.

Mr Bowles said: “This report proves what we and all the Joint Branch Board chairs and secretaries in this region have been saying about communication: There needs to be more of it.

“In South Yorkshire Police Federation when there has been a communication gap reported, we have set out to improve that with things like roadshows, Twitter, Facebook, our magazine and this Ezine.

“But nationally, more needs to be done.”

Local representation in the Police Federation has been shown to be “outstanding” and a boon to officers “in crisis” the report stated.

The Police Federation Independent Review Progress Report, issued today by Sir David Normington, was critical of the Police Federation of England and Wales, but also highlighted some local successes.

The report said members “have a far greater engagement and less dissatisfaction with the Police Federation at a workplace and local level than national level and highly value the representation that local representatives provide in a crisis.”

It added: “We have heard good examples of the impact of local representatives, but the standard is variable. Some of the local representation of police officers in difficulty is outstanding and generally valued by the members.”

An Ipsos Mori survey of 12,500 front line police officers – commissioned by the Review – has found 64% are dissatisfied with the performance of the federation and that 91 per cent of the membership believe the Federation has to change.

Mr Bowles added: “There is too much squabbling between rank committees. They should act as one. Let us locally carry out rank specific issues and services – leaving them nationally to act as one united front on issues like negotiations, pay, conditions, pensions, legislation – national issues. They would have more power if they worked together.”

The report called for a national database of members to communicate directly on key issues and more evidence that members’ views are being listened to.

A spokesman for the Police Federation of England and Wales, said: “As the progress report highlights, the Federation is an organisation that is in need of change. We look forward to receiving the final report and the opportunity to work with our partners in developing an organisation that not only will serve its members, but also the best interest of the police service in England and Wales.”