‘Politicians now ask questions about how policing works’

10 November 2023

As Nicky Ryan, the Federation’s Welsh lead, prepares to retire at the end of November, she looks back on her career and what she has achieved in her final policing role.

Sandwiched between the Welsh First Minister and the policing minister, who were in turn next to the Home Secretary and the shadow Home Secretary, Nicky Ryan has admitted that during last month’s National Police Memorial Day there was a moment when she asked herself how she had got to be in such a position and in such company.

“It’s fair to say it was a little surreal,” says Nicky.

However, it is also fair to say that it was fitting that she was sat with the political heavyweights at the service held this year in the New Theatre, Cardiff as since becoming the Police Federation of England and Wales’ Welsh lead in April 2021 she has done so much to not just increase engagement between Welsh politicians, the Welsh Government and the Federation but also to ensure there is more awareness of the issues and risks facing rank and file officers.

“In terms of what I have achieved in the last two and a half years, I would say that is the most significant breakthrough. Politicians now asks questions about how policing works and we are now seen as an integral part of Welsh justice. We are part of the conversation,” Nicky explains.

“I have been really focused on making sure that officers have a voice, and that their voice is listened to.”

As a sign of the improved relationship between the police service and Government for the first time this year, the Senedd, the heart of Welsh Government, was lit up in blue on the eve of National Police Memorial Day after a request from Nicky.

“That was something that I am extremely proud about. It sends a very clear message to the families of our fallen colleagues that they are not forgotten and that is very important to them, but also to everyone in the policing family,” she adds.

“I must admit I felt very emotional when I got the email confirming the Senedd would be paying its respects to those police officers who lost their lives serving our communities.

Nicky, who retires in November, took over as Welsh lead, at a time when everyone was still working remotely, and social distancing restrictions were still in place. Her predecessor, Mark Bleasdale, had held the reins during the pandemic and saw the Federation’s Welsh business area through this period so she found herself having to navigate her way through the new way of working.

Many of her first meetings with Members of the Senedd were held on Teams or, where they were in person, from behind masks.

“Everyone was just doing the best they could, and it was important for us to be able to re-engage and drive things forward,” she recalls.

Nicky rose to the challenge, in her own inimitable style but grateful for the trust that had been put in her to not just set the agenda but also work her way through it.

In addition to influencing Welsh Government and forming effective working relationships with politicians and other stakeholders, she also set about making changes within the Federation, highlighting to the organisation’s National Board, National Council and English colleagues, the differences for Welsh officers, working for the Home Office but within a devolved justice system where other partners were working for Welsh Government.

The increased understanding of the Welsh situation has led to increased linguistic courtesy, for example. Signature blocks for emails are now provided in Welsh and English and the most recent Federation pay campaign was also available with Welsh language graphics.

“These may seem like minor things, but that linguistic courtesy is critical for an organisation that has ‘England and Wales’ in its title but perhaps hasn’t always paid full attention to the ‘and Wales’ part of that,” Nicky adds.

As a child, Nicky had always wanted to be a police officer, she had a full grasp of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ and, from an early age, just wanted to make a difference, to make things better.

Sadly, her small stature – she is 5ft 2½ inches and is keen to emphasise that ½ - prevented her from joining the police service when she left school.

So, she did her A levels, undertook a business course and then joined the Royal Air Force. In her words, ‘treading water’ until she could sign up as a probationer PC.

Her RAF years included postings around the UK and also to the Falklands but closer to home it was a re-alignment of force boundaries that actually enabled her to finally fulfil her dreams. South Wales relinquished the Rhymney Valley with Nicky’s home force, Gwent, taking on responsibility for policing the area.

After years of almost non-existent recruitment, Gwent needed to take on more officers.

“It was definitely a case of right place, right time,” says Nicky, who started her policing career in 1996 when she was 24.

Nicky Ryan (second left) during the early years of her career.

She freely admits that it was not all plain sailing. At times, she found policing suppressed her and made her feel contained and constrained.

“Becoming a Federation representative, the Gwent branch secretary and then the Federation’s Welsh lead enabled me to flourish, I enjoy taking on a challenge, advocating on behalf of others and helping bring about change,” she explains.

In terms of her own career, Nicky, who became a Federation workplace representative in 2014, is proud to have earned a reputation as a hard worker.

Nicky found one of the most difficult periods of her career came when she wanted to secure a flexible working arrangement so that she could balance the needs of the Force with her own commitment to caring for her Mum when she was unwell.

She found some line managers totally intransigent, but also completely unable to see police officers as individuals, and individuals with their own needs and responsibilities outside of policing.

“There was just no flexibility at all, no attempt to accommodate my need to care for my Mum and still work as a police officer. Juggling caring responsibilities with your career can be difficult, but the organisation needs to do more to help people do this,” Nicky explains, “It must be incredibly difficult for two parents working in policing trying to work shifts, look after children and actually have any kind of life.

“I am not surprised forces are losing the skills and experience of good officers who just find they can’t get the flexibility within their role to be able to manage their personal lives too. We all understand the business needs, but there needs to be more understanding of officers’ needs too.

“We are breaking good people, experienced officers, and then somehow blaming them, not the system, when things go wrong.”

While calling for more to be done in terms of flexible working arrangements, Nicky is also keen to point out that there were some supervisors who did their best to help, who were prepared to think outside the box and show some compassion.

“Some people were just absolutely brilliant, there were pieces of kindness that I will never forget,” she says.

So, as she prepares for life outside policing, what does Nicky think of the police service she is soon to leave behind?

“Fundamentally, I think policing is reaping the rewards of what has been sown during the years of chronic under-investment in policing, with everything the Federation warned of at the start of the austerity measures coming to fruition,” Nicky says.

“It has become a political football, but it has also become the norm for officers to be scrutinised for everything they do, with conduct investigations into decisions officers made in a split second going on for years and years, leaving officers feeling unsupported.

“But, and this has to be a good thing, we are finally seeing chief officers putting their heads above the parapet and speaking up on behalf of police officers. South Wales Chief Constable Jeremy Vaughan as National Police Chiefs’ Council lead, for instance, has spoken out positively on officer pay.”

As a parting message, Nicky confesses she has no one person in policing that she admires, as such, but she is full of praise and respect for the unsung heroes of policing; the officers who turn up, day in, day out, identify an issue, sort it and don’t necessarily shout about it.

“There are some great officers out there, some really inspirational women, who quietly go about their business, bring change and make a difference. I don’t think the organisation always recognises them, and they are not celebrated enough,” she explains.