Federation will campaign for industrial rights

18 July 2024

The Police Federation of England and Wales will campaign for collective bargaining and binding arbitration as part of a fairer police pay review process.

The campaign comes after a nationwide poll of members in which 97.7 per cent of those who responded said they wanted the Federation to pursue industrial rights on their behalf.

Rob Bowles, chair of North Yorkshire Police Federation, said: “The results of this survey give the national Federation a clear mandate.

“The Federation’s National Council, which includes the chairs and secretaries of Federation branches across and England and Wales, will now work with the National Board to develop the campaign.

Restrictions

“While this work is ongoing, we, as a branch, will look to meet with MPs representing constituencies in North Yorkshire to discuss the findings of the survey and share members’ frustration with the current police pay review process.”

The Federation does not believe the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) is fit for purpose since it is not independent of Government and neither does it include binding arbitration.

Rob continued: “Officers sign up for a career in policing knowing they will have restrictions placed on them, including the fact they cannot join a union or take industrial action.

“However, the other part of the deal is that the government of the day respects their unique position and treats them fairly over pay. Sadly, officers no longer believe they are being treated fairly particularly since in recent years they have been subjected to a 20 per cent real terms cut to their salaries.

Challenging

“But it’s as much about the lack of a fair mechanism for determining our annual pay award as it is about the actual pay award itself.

“Police officers carry out a role that is challenging, demanding and often dangerous. They deserve to be treated fairly by the Government.”

PRRB replaced the former Police Negotiating Board (PNB) in 2014. The PNB process included binding arbitration.

PRRB’s remit is set by the Government which can limit the pay award it can consider and over-rule PRRB recommendations. Under PRRB, there is no access to arbitration.

The Police Federation has made annual submissions to PRRB jointly with the Police Superintendents’ Association in the past, but withdrew from PRRB in 2021.

The Police Federation poll on industrial rights ran from 3 to 21 June this year and attracted 50,103 responses.