Wiltshire Police Federation shares mini-manifesto ahead of Police and Crime Commissioner elections

9 April 2021

Wiltshire Police Federation – the body representing front line officers across the county - has released a mini-manifesto ahead of next month’s Police and Crime Commissioner elections.

Mark Andrews, Chairman of Wiltshire Police Federation said he is “looking forward to working with whoever is elected” as the Police and Crime Commissioner of Wiltshire on May 6 - and that he would be pushing for a number of issues to be top of their in-tray.

The Wiltshire Police Federation mini-manifesto calls on a new PCC to:

• Look into the time taken to deal with allegations of misconduct by police officers and complaints from the public. Mark said: “It is essential these are investigated fully to give the public assurance we are a fair and transparent organisation. It is also important we conclude the investigations swiftly to reduce the stress to all parties involved. We require investment in our Professional Standards Department to ensure these matters are managed efficiently and effectively.”

• Invest in our Headquarters, Police Stations and Training facilities. Mark said: “Wiltshire Police has seen its real estate foot print reduce significantly over the last 15 years. We no longer have a custody in the south of the county, and we share premises with partners in Salisbury and Chippenham, which presents significant challenges. There is need for investment in our Headquarters and Training facilities in order to support our existing staff and new recruits and upgrades of our remaining smaller stations to ensure they can be fit for purpose. We cannot sell any more of our family jewels, we need to invest to better serve the public.”
  
  
• Secure more money for Wiltshire Police from Central Government. Mark said: “Our officers are asked to do so much when their numbers are still at a low level. Their work loads are immense which leads to stress and sickness absence. Wiltshire Police are at the bottom of the pile when it comes to the slice of the funding cake we get from central Government. We need a strong PCC who can go to bat for us, challenge this and get us more central money.  Then we can look at additional officers above what we have already been promised; we continue to ask our communities to pick up the central funding slack, without seeing any real changes on the ground.”
  
  
• And invest in the welfare and wellbeing of our most important asset – Wiltshire Police officers and staff. Mark said: “Officer welfare should continue to be paramount to the PCC’s office. Investment in this area, including a strong Occupational Health Unit, will demonstrate the value placed on the officer and lift morale. We are seeing officers leaving the job after a short time or looking to transfer. We need to plug the leak.”

Mark concluded: “The new Police and Crime Commissioner will have challenges… I will work on behalf of our members to ensure they act upon the issues we have raised in our mini-manifesto and listen to the concerns of police officers.”