MP voices support for officers

20 October 2026

Jess Davies, branch chair, with Al Carns MP (centre) and Chris James, branch secretary.

Member of Parliament for Birmingham Selly Oak Al Carns has been asked to support the Police Federation with three issues of concern for West Midlands officers.

Branch chair Jess Davies and branch secretary Chris James met the Labour MP and former Royal Marine at his constituency office on Thursday.

Police pay

“We are asking our region’s MPs to support us in three key areas of our work,” says Jess, “Firstly, we want them to get behind us on police pay. We are calling for a return to collective bargaining and binding arbitration to restore police pay which has fallen in real terms in recent years. We believe this will help with the officer recruitment and retention crisis and attract a wide variety of applicants to join the police service.

“We also want them to understand the aims of our Time Limits campaign. There is currently no cap on the time it can take to investigate an allegation or complaint against a police officer, and we want to see that changed. We suggest it should be set at 12 months from allegations being made and would welcome MPs supporting us on this.

“Thirdly, we are really pushing home the message that there needs to be more investment in officer wellbeing, both in terms of increased funding and support. But it should not end there. The Federation feels there should be a greater requirement on forces for proactive wellbeing rather than it just being reactive.”

Thursday’s meeting with Mr Carns was the second in 10 months and the Federation has thanked him for his commitment to engage with officials.

“We have been trying to set up meetings with all the region’s MPs since the General Election in July 2024 but, so far, we have only managed to meet less than a quarter of them. We feel they should all have an interest in the police officers who serve their communities and the issues that are affecting them,” says Jess.

Committed

“We are pleased that Mr Carns remains committed to working with us and to listening to our concerns. He is supportive of our aims, and we look forward to continuing to build on our working relationship with him.”

After the meeting, Mr Carns said: “Police officers play a vital role in keeping our communities safe, often working in incredibly challenging and demanding circumstances. They deserve fair pay, a fair and timely process when complaints are made, and proper support for their physical and mental wellbeing. These are important issues for recruitment, retention and public confidence in policing.

“I’m grateful to Jess and Chris for taking the time to meet with me, and I’ll continue to listen to the concerns of West Midlands officers and support efforts to ensure they have the backing they need to do their jobs effectively.”