National Council votes to extend Fed rep electoral cycle

18 October 2023

The Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) will be approaching the Home Office to request the extension of the electoral cycle for Federation representatives from three to five years following a vote by the National Council (NC).

Representatives from Nottinghamshire Police Federation, who attended the National Council meeting (on 26 September) voted against the proposal, which now requires Home Office approval before taking effect.

However, the proposal was backed by around 84 per cent of the National Council, which is made up of local branch chairs and secretaries, as well as representatives with protected characteristics. 

Nottinghamshire Police Federation secretary Tom Hill said: “While we recognise there are valid reasons behind having a longer electoral cycle, we as a Federation voted against the proposal. Personally, I believe it would be improper and unfair to change this within the current term.

“Current Federation representatives were voted by members on the premise and understanding that we would be in the role for three years. By extending the elections mid-cycle, I believe we will be denying members the opportunity to have their say, or even stand themselves either as a workplace or local branch representative.”

The current triennial election process was confirmed in 2017 as part of the Police Federation Regulations.

As it stands, the elections are set to take place next summer (2024), starting with the election of new workplace representatives in all 43 Police Federation branches across England and Wales. 

This would be followed by branch board elections, principal officials, branch chair and national board members, ending with the national chair election - all to be complete by the end of spring 2025.

Those in favour of the extension argued that a significant amount of time is currently being spent on the electoral process during the three-year cycle. 

Factoring the time being taken to conduct as well as prepare for the process, it is believed that PFEW is spending up to 18 months of each three-year period dealing with the elections.

PFEW will now formally approach the Home Office to request a change in the Federation’s election cycle.

Explaining reasons behind the decision, PFEW chief executive Mukund Krishna said: “Following the Employment Tribunal’s judgment in the Police Pension Challenge, the Federation has decided to commission an independent review that will examine the statutory basis of the organisation, its purpose, rules, funding and governance.

“We have a huge task of addressing the challenges brought by the judgment. Time is pivotal in doing this and, obviously, we will need time to implement the organisational changes based on the independent review’s recommendations. An extension of the election cycle will be very helpful in driving the changes to ensure we provide the best possible support to our reps and members and the organisation is fit for the future.”

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