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View from the Chairman July 2010
Update to View from the Chair Following on from my report to you last week; I am pleased to be able to report that I have had confirmation from the Chief Constable that a review has been carried out by The Police Authority regarding the numbers of Chief Officers in our Force. A further review will take place in 2011. As I write we are two months into the new Coalition Government, and 6 months into the forces 150+ project, and I think it's plainly obvious for all to see that policing as we know it is not affordable or sustainable, and we all face significant challenges. Currently the 150+ project is trying to make significant savings over the next three years with the majority falling in this financial year. On top of that we have learnt that the Coalition Government has instructed ministers to make additional savings of either 25 or 40 percent in their ministries including the Home Office. In my last 'view' we informed our members of the Joint Branch Board's aspirations in relation to budget cuts and I would like to thank all of you who have offered their positive support in relation to this stance. It was no surprise to us when Senior ACPO and HMIC representatives at the ACPO Conference last week spoke in strong terms about cuts in the service. Sir Hugh Orde, the ACPO President has warned that our 'gold standard' of service is at risk, and when asked about a reduced service delivery he said, "It goes to the best standard you have got with the resources that are available to you, so you aspire to deliver a bespoke service. But if the reality is you cannot all the time and if that is the case, you do your level best with what you have got." We fully support Sir Hugh's endorsement and will reiterate what I said before, in that, the service should be delivered by fully warranted sworn police officers. All the staff associations are being fully consulted over the 150+ recommendations, and we will vigoursly oppose reductions to front line police posts. The Police Review published on the 2 July, ran an article on the number of fully sworn members of the ACPO ranks, with a breakdown in relation to sex and ethnicity. It was interesting to find out that in relation to English and Welsh Forces, and despite being the second smallest force, 7 forces have fewer ACPO ranks than us and 16 forces the same, with some of those being significantly larger. We again call for a review on the numbers of ACPO in our small force. On a more positive note it is pleasing to report that despite the Coalition Government announcing a public sector pay freeze, the final instalment of our 3 year pay deal (2.55%) will be honoured in September. I can't however be so positive in relation to pensions, as all public sector pensions are currently under review, we have however been given guarantees by the Home Secretary that the Staff Side of the Police Negotiating Board will be fully consulted throughout the process. The duties for this year's Bulldog Bash have been published, and again some of our members will be expected to perform extremely excessive hours of duty. We are told by the force that this is absolutely necessary, we find that to be particularly exacerbating, it is an annual event and duties should be planned and worked in accordance with the European Working Time Directive. We have serious concerns about officer safety and the cumulative effect of working excessive hours on successive days. We will continue to negotiate with the force over these duties, to ensure that the safety of our members is not compromised when considering it in line with current legislation and force policy. We have now been in our own offices for just over 6 months and on the 29th April they were officially opened by Mr. Paul McKeever, Chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales.
On the day we were pleased to welcome many dignitaries including, the Chairman of the Police Authority Mr. Ian Francis, Mr. Parker, Deputy Chief Constable and several retired ex officials of the Joint Branch Board.
From left to right, Simon Payne JBB Chairman, Jeff Millward JBB Secretary, Brian Chamberlain Secretary 1974 - 1979,Sam Oakley JBB Treasurer, Peter Brown Treasurer 2000,Paul McKeever Chairman Police Federation of England and Wales, Dennis Forsyth Chairman 1982 -1984, Robert Kitchen Chairman 1994 - 2001, Andy Robbins Treasurer 2001 - 2004, Robert Ashcroft Treasurer 1992 - 1995, Michael Tanner Secretary 1985 - 1994 and Derek Griffin Treasurer 1995 - 2000 I would like to take this opportunity to thank our project steering group headed up by Jeff Millward and the background work carried out by our office manager Bob Kitchen in the acquisition of these premises. I would like to wish Jeff all the best in his retirement and welcome his successor Sue Biddle as the new JBB Secretary. Members are welcome to visit our office at any time, and meeting rooms can be hired.
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