Sussex Police Federation Enjoys Productive Meetings With Local MPs

1 November 2025

Sussex Police Federation has been speaking to local MPs about the pressures facing policing - including pay, workloads, retention, and mental health - and has encouraged them to push for positive change.

Federation Chair Raffaele Cioffi recently met with Mims Davies, the Conservative MP for East Grinstead and Uckfield, and Alison Bennett, the Liberal Democrat MP for Mid Sussex. They discussed police pay and conditions, recruitment and retention, the campaign to simplify DG6, and the worryingly high number of police suicides.

Earlier this year, Raffaele contacted both MPs to encourage their support for an Early Day Motion to reform the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) system. The proposed reform would include binding arbitration. The motion also called on the Government to enter into formal negotiations with the Police Federation of England and Wales.

Mims Davies declined to sign the motion, stating that she believed an independent PRRB was appropriate as it avoids the inefficiencies and delays of collective bargaining. However, she acknowledged that the PRRB had its challenges and said she would encourage the Government to make improvements where possible.

Alison Bennett was more sympathetic to the cause and has signed a similar Early Day Motion calling on the Government to ensure fair pay rises for police officers by reforming the PRRB to make it properly independent. 

https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/63724/police-officers

Raffaele then raised the issue of the Simplify DG6 campaign, and the amount of time officers spend redacting files at the pre-charge stage in accordance with Crown Prosecution Service disclosure guidance.

He said: “We want to get this motion passed in Parliament. Police officers are spending to much time redacting files rather than being out there protecting the public and detecting crime. Both MPs seem to be in favour of supporting that, so I am going to write to them further with more detail on the topic"

Raffaele also raised the high number of police suicides, an issue he said was “very close to home for us.”

He continued: “I highlighted that, between 2022 and 2025, 46 serving officers and 20 police staff died by suicide. I told them that we’re looking at trying to change the Health and Safety at Work Act to make police suicide a mandatory reportable event.”

Mims Davies spoke about her previous role as Minister responsible for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), and Raffaele urged her to work with the Federation so that officer suicides can be reported and investigated appropriately by an independent body, so we can positively improve the lives of officers. At the moment there are no mechanisms to record suicide by officers that can be contributed to their work. 

He added: “I also talked about the challenges police forces face in recruitment and retention, and asked the MPs how Government policies could help with attracting and keeping experience in the police service.”

Raffaele said he will continue engaging with the two MPs, as well as other Sussex representatives, to keep them informed about key policing challenges and to seek their ongoing support for officers.