Forces need early advice on lifting of restrictions, Federation chair warns

13 June 2021

Suffolk Police Federation chair Darren Harris says uncertainty over whether England’s remaining coronavirus restrictions will be lifted is ‘unacceptable’.

There’s speculation in the media the Government is considering delaying the final stage of the lifting of lockdown – which was originally planned to take place no earlier than 21 June – by up to four weeks.

It comes amid growing concern about the rising number of cases and the higher transmissibility of the Delta variant of the disease.

Darren says the police are not getting enough information from the Government about when remaining restrictions will be lifted.

And he says they need as much notice as possible to prepare for any changes to the regulations because of existing pressures on the Force, including leave and the deployment of officers to the G7 summit in Cornwall.

Darren said: “The uncertainty of what’s going to happen on 21 June is unacceptable. We’re trying to plan on how we’re going to adapt as this month goes on but we’re getting snippets out of the media through leaks in the Government.

“We need to be able to plan for what the demands are going to be on us. Let’s look at what June brings. It’s the start of summer, the start of the annual leave period.

“We’ve got relaxation, maybe, of the regulations and rules regarding the pandemic. We’ve got the Euro Championships, which are being held here in England and across Europe.”

Darren added: “The information is not coming through. That maybe the Government doesn’t actually understand what it’s going to be doing at the moment and they’re still trying to assess all the data. What does the Delta variant look like and how is that going to affect the UK?

“We need a little bit of guidance. We need a bit of time, which we’ve not had in any of these law or guidance changes.

“We’ve had to react, and even start policing the new guidance without any legislation. It’s been like that all the way through the pandemic, sadly.”

“It’s very difficult for my members, but also, is it fair on the public? We’re trying to enforce new rules and regulations when we don’t actually know what they mean and that just can’t be right.”

Darren’s comments came on BBC Radio Suffolk’s Sarah Lilley programme on Saturday morning. During a wide-ranging interview which reflected on last week’s annual Federation conference, Darren called on Home Secretary Priti Patel to back officers in their calls for a pay increase.

“My members have been working really hard over the last 15 months through this pandemic dealing with all the changes, all the legislative changes, all the guidance changes,” he said.

“Being out on that frontline during a pandemic that has sadly killed a lot of the public and some of my members and they feel they should be treated fairly and be rewarded fairly for that.

“I think a pay increase is the big thing. We want her support to fight our corner for it. Whether we get it or not is another matter. If she’s got our backs and she’s supporting then she needs to support us in these fights for a fair pay increase.”

Darren welcomed the Government’s commitment to recruit an additional 20,000 officers by March 2023, but he said that was not without its issues.

“It’s long overdue,” he said, “We’ve been having our numbers cut since 2010. It does bring its own problems.

“We’re ending up with a large amount of our frontline officers as student officers now, lacking in experience and that then feeds into other areas of policing like detectives and the area of work they deal where all the threat, harm and risk is.

“We’re severely lacking in detectives and experienced police officers at the moment.”

Darren welcomed moves to allow Special Constables to be able to join the Federation. 

“The Special Constabulary volunteer their time,” he said, “They’re warranted police officers, they hold the office of constable, but they do it for free.

“They give a lot back to this community. They give a lot to the constabulary.

“I think it’s about time they get the support and assistance the Federation offers members, and they will become our members and then we can help them in any difficult situations they find themselves in but also fight for getting recognition for Specials so they can have the same safety and requirements that regulars have.”

Listen to Darren’s interview with Sarah Lilley on BBC Radio Suffolk. The interview starts at one hour 10 minutes and 25 seconds.

Darren also spoke to the East Anglian Daily Times for a report on the need for forces to be briefed on changes to Covid regulations ahead of a busy summer for officers. Read the report.