PNB Agreement ‘no longer fit for purpose’

8 January 2025

The 1994 Police Negotiating Board (PNB) Agreement is no longer fit for purpose and should be withdrawn, says Inspector Steve Green.

Steve, a West Midlands Police Federation workplace rep, said policing and the roles of the inspecting ranks have changed beyond recognition in the 30 years since the agreement was introduced.

Now, he is calling for it to be revisited as part of the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW)’s campaign for collective bargaining on pay.

He said: “A revisit of the 1994 PNB Agreement is long overdue.

Inspector Steve Green.

“Times have changed. The responsibilities for inspecting ranks have changed. We’re not working in the same environment we were working in 30 years ago.

“We're held to account for performance, standards, and using resources we haven’t got to keep the public safe.

“We're trying to do all of these and not being compensated for it enough.

“It should be raised as part of the collective bargaining.”

Regulations

Since the agreement in 1994, the inspecting ranks have worked under different regulations from constables and sergeants.

They had their pay uplifted by around £3,000 a year but, in return, were no longer paid casual overtime.

They lost the right to compensation for cancelled rest days and for working on a bank holiday other than the day being re-rostered,

There is also no right to a shift pattern, unlike constables and sergeants.

Steve said: “For example, if you're a PC or a sergeant and somebody says your shift pattern is changing in a week's time, they can’t do that. You’ve got to get 90 days’ notice.

Notice

“As an inspector, if they said to me, you're working nights tomorrow then I'm working nights tomorrow. No notice, no compensation for it. I’m just doing it.”

Steve has been putting together a proposal for the Branch Board to take to the PFEW to discuss changing the PNB Agreement.

His work included a survey of inspectors and chief inspectors in West Midlands Police, which found that 81 per cent of respondents felt the PNB Agreement was no longer relevant.

Some 85 per cent had accrued but not taken rest days in the past 12 months, with 19 per cent having at least 11 days.

Only eight per cent of inspecting rank officers did no work on their rest days, such as checking or actioning emails, while 69 per cent said they did some work on at least three of their rest days.

The research included the following open-text responses:

I have worked in excess of 40 hours per week for more than three years and have accepted it as the normal. My work ethic would not allow me to let my teams or colleagues down, so I keep going, albeit I know it is detrimental to me, my family and my work/life balance.
I am regularly asked to perform the duty inspector rota in addition to my day-to-day duties. I am hesitant to take leave or time owing as this impacts on my ability to do my day job as my to-do list just keeps increasing.
It can be quite exhausting with very little reward.
My stress levels are really high because of all the hours I find myself working and I'm not sure how long I will be able to carry on at this level.
Inspectors and chief inspectors I work alongside are, like me, all working in the evenings and weekends, on annual leave and rest days, with many suffering anxiety and burnout.

Steve would like to see:

The working week reduced to 37.5 hours to reflect the average working hours in other industries. This would have the effect of increasing hourly rate in real terms.
Overtime payments reintroduced.
The re-introduction of published rotas for 12 months.
90 days’ notice of a change of shift pattern so that rest days and leave is protected.

He said: “It would effectively revert the inspecting ranks to similar regulations as PCs and sergeants.

“It is clear inspectors and chief inspectors aren’t getting the protections that were anticipated in the PNB Agreement and inspecting ranks are working excessive hours and rest days that they will never in reality be able to take.”

PFEW has published a series of blogs on the 1994 PNB Agreement.