Uniform survey: members encouraged to have their say
3 July 2024
The chair of West Mercia Police Federation is encouraging members to have their say on issues relating to their uniform.
Steve Butler is asking members to complete the National Police Uniform and Equipment Survey.
The survey is a collaboration between the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) and researchers at Lancaster University.
It aims to explore a range of issues from whether the uniform is fit for purpose to whether it’s comfortable, from whether it affects your health to how it makes officers feel.
Steve said: “The is the first national survey of how police officers feel about their uniform and I’d encourage as many of our members as possible to take part.
Comfort and fit
“From speaking to members we know that some do experience issues with their uniform, such as comfort and fit.
“Now is the chance to highlight the issues, to share them with the service, and to shape the decision making in the future.
“The more members who complete the survey the stronger the message will be, so please have your say.”
The survey is live now and closes on 12 August.
It has had input from the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the Police Superintendents’ Association, UNISON and the Home Office.
Zac Mader, the Federation’s Welsh co-lead, is leading on the project with fellow National Board member and PFEW wellbeing lead Belinda Goodwin.
Zac called for as many members as possible to complete the survey.
He said: “This is the first opportunity our members have had to tell us and the police service how they feel about their uniform.
“Every day, in every station there’s likely to be a conversation about uniform, whether it’s good, bad or indifferent.
“Our survey focuses on issues around uniform and interoperability with equipment and PPE.
“Is the uniform fit for purpose? How does it make people feel wearing it? Does it make you feel proud to be a police officer?
“This is a great opportunity for our members to have their say on what they think about their uniform and what they want from it, and we’d encourage as many as possible to complete it.
Meaningful changes
“We’ll use the results to give decision makers evidence of what our members want so that meaningful changes are made to the uniform and uniform policies.”
Zac said he hoped the work would improve the quality of uniforms, and even save Forces money in the long run.
“It appears to be a postcode lottery at the moment,” he said.
“There isn’t one route to buying uniform, which means potentially different standards of uniform across the service.
“We want consistency with police uniform, with the highest minimum standards and to get rid of the postcode lottery.
“We want uniform that is environmentally friendly and that has been ethically sourced.
“And we believe that there are future opportunities with procurement of uniform and buying power."
The link to the survey has been sent to members' inboxes. If you have any queries, please contact impactofuniform@gmail.com or the PFEW research team on researchanddatacollection@polfed.org
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