In her final Conference speech before retiring, Mel Warnes warned that the current approach to police pay, working conditions and accountability is unsustainable, calling on Government and police leaders to deliver a better deal for officers.

Pay was at the heart of her address. She highlighted PFEW’s evidence to the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) on recruitment, attrition and the loss of experienced officers, and its stark conclusion that “exploitation” is built into the way policing operates.

She warned that pay was about far more than money, affecting whether people join policing, stay in the profession and feel their experience and sacrifice are valued.

Calling for reform of police pay determination, Mel Warnes highlighted PFEW’s work with parliamentarians on an amendment to the Police Reform Bill to introduce fair, binding arbitration and collective bargaining.

Her message to the Home Secretary was direct: “The status quo is not sustainable. Meet with us. Work with us.”

The speech also focused on making policing a modern workplace. More than 70 per cent of police officers who are mothers have told PFEW they have had to change roles to keep their home life afloat. Mel Warnes said retaining talented officers should not mean forcing them to choose between their career and their family.

On police conduct, she called for accountability to be fair, timely and proportionate, saying PFEW would press the end-to-end review of the accountability regime to consider time limits on investigations and review the threshold for referring officers to misconduct proceedings.

Reflecting on more than 30 years in policing, Mel Warnes ended with a call for the Federation to keep fighting for its members.

“We owe those people a better deal,” she said. “Fair pay. Proper rest. A decent family life. The right technology. Less bureaucracy. A modern workplace. Fair treatment when things go wrong. And a voice in the decisions that affect their working lives.”

 

Read the full speech here.

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