Chairs Update - Winter 2025

10 December 2025

Dear colleagues,

As we come to the end of another busy year, it is time to reflect on what has taken place and how we have provided value for our members.

Against the backdrop of 2023 and the overwhelming shift changes under Regulation 22, we are now thankful that Sussex Police has implemented meaningful changes to the organisational structure to better manage the demand we were facing. This has allowed our frontline officers to focus more on delivering service to the public. Is the system perfect? No. But we have gained significant ground in the right direction, helping to restore some balance between officers’ home and work life. We will continue to work with the force to improve our members’ working conditions in this sphere.

The demands of the summer have taken a significant toll on members, and this has not gone unnoticed. Thank you for your continued commitment to the work we do. As we move into the winter months, it’s clear that the demands on policing will continue. The Government has allocated a migrant facility in Crowborough, and this has sparked protest within the local community that we must keep safe. I’m pleased to see that the future resourcing of this has been predicted as best as possible and that volunteers are being requested, which I hope will alleviate some unwanted shift alterations.

National Conference 

On the 18th and 19th of November, the National Federation Conference took place in Birmingham. Ten Sussex delegates attended and took part in the event.

The main purpose of the conference was to discuss and vote on a subscription uplift. The proposal presented to the delegates were to increase subscription fees by £2 (to £26.31) and to remove the 50% discount for new recruits.

Both proposals were accepted with over 80% of delegates in favour.

Members are reminded that tax relief can be claimed for this professional subscription.

After tax relief, the real monthly subscription cost to members is £21.04.

If do not believe you are receiving tax relief then please contact HMRC directly, either through your online tax account or by completing a P87 form. You can find further information on our website here. You can backdate claims for up to four years, which means some members may be able to reclaim several hundred pounds.

Even with this increase, our subscriptions remain lower than other representative bodies for example the Fire Brigades Union (£35.71) and the Superintendents’ Association (£41.08).

Key commitments made by CEO Mukund Krishna were:

1. Produce a report on the real state of policing, challenging the HMICFRS top-down perspective.
2. Deliver a member-focused victim and witness support programme.
3. Introduce a welfare programme for Federation representatives.
   
   

I will report back to members on the above topics and upon delivery of the plans.

Meetings with local MPs

We recently met with two local MPs, Mims Davies and Alison Bennett, to discuss several key issues affecting our members:

• The Copped Enough campaign (industrial rights and binding arbitration – Early Day Motion 1256 ( Negotiating rights for police officers - Early Day Motions - UK Parliament)
• DG6 and the redaction burden on officers.
• Officer suicides and how the lack of recording of these incidents.

Conservative MP Mims Davies
Mims Davies declined to sign the motion on industrial rights and binding arbitration, stating that an independent PRRB avoids the perceived inefficiencies of collective bargaining. However, she acknowledged there are challenges with the current PRRB process and agreed to support efforts to improve it.

Liberal Democrat MP Alison Bennett
Alison Bennett was more supportive of our position. She has signed a similar Early Day Motion calling for fair police pay and reform of the PRRB (EDM 1367).

DG6 and redaction
We explained the practical impact of DG6 and the scale of pre-charge redaction work being carried out by officers. Both MPs were surprised at the extent of this burden. They expressed support for our proposed legislative amendment and agreed to advocate for it when it is next tabled.

Officer suicides
We also raised the national statistics on officer suicides and our local experiences. Both MPs were sympathetic. Mims Davies, drawing on her experience as a former Health & Safety Minister, expressed an interest in working with PFEW on the Health & Safety aspects of this issue.

Our position remains clear: where an officer attempts or completes suicide and occupational factors are involved, this should be properly recorded and independently investigated. The current system needs improvement, and any meaningful change must come from an independent body with the authority to act.

The Federation will be meeting with Hove MP Peter Kyle in the new year to address some of the above issues and some local matters.

House of Lords

Sussex Police Federation attended the House of Lords, focusing on pay and conditions, welfare, and the growing pressures on officers. Thanks to our Specials Rep Michael Jacobs, we were hosted by Lord Rupert Redesdale, who offered valuable insight on how we can strengthen our voice and influence policy at Westminster. It was a constructive session, and we left with several positive avenues to pursue as we continue to advocate for members.

Christmas party message

The Federation has been working with PSD and Sussex Police Corporate Communications on this year’s Christmas party messaging. Last year’s internal article generated a lot of discussion, so this year the approach has been refreshed with an intranet article titled “Bah Humbugs”, a supporting poster campaign, and some branded humbug sweets – a small gesture of thanks for the commitment you show throughout the festive period.

Our aim is simple: we want everyone to be able to relax and enjoy themselves, while also keeping in mind the responsibilities that come with the Office of Constable.

Please view the Christmas message here – Don't let the Ghosts of Christmas come back and haunt you

Pet food

With our commitment to think of innovative ways to support members we are continuing with our pet food supply from our donors. If members would like a supply of dog or cat food, then please fill out the form below. Due to the high demand of this service if members do not pick up their reserved pet food supply within 14 days, we will be moving it on to another member. It is strictly 1 bag of dog food per officer.

For those that are on the far ends of Sussex we will be delivering allocated pet food to the following stations for it to be picked up.

• Hastings
• Eastbourne
• Crawley
• Brighton
• Other location maybe identified if we have the capacity with our reps network.

Our team will notify the dates of drop off in conjunction with reps availability. All others please arrange collection from our offices in Lancing.

To apply for pet food, please click here

Expenses

The Federation have received further enquiries in the office regarding expenses. This has prompted further enquiries with the Chiefs office on this topic. The Deputy Chief Constable has taken this on personally to explore how he can support our members. Previously, the main barriers were the high costs associated with changing SAP or introducing new systems within Sussex Police to improve this process.

The current wait time for reimbursement is a minimum of 30 days. This is causing financial hardship for some officers due to operational requirements.

We will continue to explore this matter with Sussex Police.

Leave embargos

The Federation have been engaging with Sussex Police on leave embargos and the length of time these embargos are retained for. In due course, Sussex Police will announce that planning for these major events will be done 90 days in advance with a pool of reserve officers to deal with contingencies for operations.

This will allow the automatic removal of leave embargos once resourcing has been met or at the 90-day mark before the event.

This is significant progress in this field, and it will be a welcomed improvement to previous practices.

I do want to remind members that Exigency (An urgent need or demand) of duty will still occur and when this criteria is met, there will not be a breach of Regulation 22.

Sussex Group Insurance Scheme Wellness Centre 

We are pleased to share that the Sussex Group Insurance Scheme (GIS) trustees have approved a significant investment in the renovation of the ground floor of Federation House, Lancing. This project will create a dedicated Wellness Centre, bringing together physical and mental health support for our members under one roof. The services provided here on site will be free to members of the Group Insurance Scheme.

Work is scheduled to take place over the next 6–8 months, with care provision expected to begin in mid-2026. This marks a significant milestone in the GIS ongoing commitment to your wellbeing, both now and for the future.

Meet the Team – Sussex Police Federation Representatives

 We are eager for our members to actively communicate with the Federation Workplace Reps to highlight any ongoing local issues. Each division’s Fed reps hold quarterly meetings with their Command Team to communicate these issues, however, if you don’t tell your local Reps about it, we won’t know about it. 

To find out who your local reps are, please click here.

Kind regards,

Raff Cioffi

Chair, Sussex Police Federation