Whilst Irene took the opportunity to introduce herself as the new President of the Association and talk about her objectives and priorities for her period in Office, the primary purpose of their attendance was to raise awareness amongst Chief Officers of command resilience issues amongst the Superintending ranks and, specifically, concerns over compliance with Working Time Regulations.  There are issues that are not dissimilar being experienced by members of the Inspecting ranks and Ian Trueman, General Secretary of the ICC, also addressed the meeting and spoke of his members’ concerns.

Command resilience and compliance with Working Time Regulations have been subjects under consideration by the Command Resilience Business Area for some time.  We have data collected from five Personal Resilience Questionnaires that extends back over some eleven years.  Notwithstanding the turnover in membership during this period, the results of successive surveys reveal remarkably similar results.  Branches have previously been provided with the survey data relating to their own forces and various initiatives have been put in place to address concerns that have been identified.

Some of the consistent themes that have emerged from the surveys is that members are routinely working excessive hours;  are not recording them properly and are failing – in many – cases to take all of their annual leave or monthly rest days.  The reduction in our numbers over the past couple of years (some 20% nationally) has inevitably led to increased spans of command.  Work-related health issues have also been reported.  An attempt to try and secure information from forces on the systems that they have in place for recording working hours, as well as monitoring them, elicited a very limited response.  A similar request by the ICC as part of their research some twelve months later, also revealed an absence of reliable data.

These issues were raised with the President of ACPO as part of our regular Joint Consultative Committee meetings, which then prompted the invitation to address Chief Constables’ Council.  The presentation delivered contained an overview of the survey data; comments on Working Time Regulation compliance; reductions in numbers and some suggested courses of action that Chief Constables might want to take to ‘health check’ their own organisation.  There has been a significant turnover in Chief Officer teams during the past twelve months and it was considered timely to raise levels of awareness.  The presentation was well-received and electronic copies will be circulated to Branch Chairs and Secretaries in due course to prompt conversation with individual Chief Constables.

Approximately 170 of our current membership come with this group and around 100 of them made their way to The Chesford Grange to participate in this seminar.  They heard from John Sturzaker (Staff Side’s legal advisor) on what the reforms mean and the impact of the transitional arrangements, and from Tim Jackson (National Deputy Secretary) on what the practical implications of the changes to members might be.  The opportunity was also taken to provide an input on forthcoming changes to the Annual and Lifetime Allowances, which will see the thresholds reduce further in April 2014.  This session was delivered by Philip Pearson (a Senior Partner with St James’s Place Partnership).

The seminar, which had been arranged by ‘D’ District on behalf of the Association, was well-received and those members who attended left the session with a clearer understanding of what the changes will mean to them.

The Longtown Mountain Rescue is regularly called upon to assist the police in finding individuals who have become lost or injured whilst walking in the Gwent area. There is no doubt that without their help, people’s lives would be put at risk and some would not be here today.

Nine, old and decidedly overweight, Superintendents from Gwent Police are taking part in the Big Black Mountain Challenge on the 18th May 2013. It is their aim to walk 16 km around the Black Mountains and in doing so raise as much as they can for this fantastic charity.

To make a donation please visit http://www.justgiving.com/Gwent-Supers

Please dig deep and give generously!

The PSAEW has ‘supporter status’ for this Conference and, as such, members of the Association will qualify for a £100 discount on the cost of attending the Conference when registering.  If you would like to take advantage of this offer, please contact Lucy Needs on 0161 211 3460 or email her at lucy-ann.needs@govnet.co.uk

Further details on the Conference can be found by clicking on the following link: www.modernising-justice.co.uk

In recent times we have seen across our society what can be argued as a degradation of institutions we have traditionally trusted as part of our fabric in society and to whom we rely on, particularly in public service; health , judiciary, politicians, teachers, to name a few.

The current reform in all public institutions is necessary to meet the current challenges facing us but not, I suggest, at a cost of failing to recognise the people who work and contribute to public service in these institutions.

The term ‘culture’ for example within public service has almost become a derogatory word, and rationale as to why change, reform is needed, or has not happened as intended.

A recent Ipsos Mori poll on trust and influence (February 2013) in my view presented some interesting findings. 65% trusted the police to tell the truth compared to occupations such as doctors, teachers, television presenters and clergy who ranged between 66% and 89%.

Of all those occupations the police is the first emergency service, the one of last resort in some peoples lives, and one most definitely unwelcomed in others’ lives!

We are there to prevent people in times of crisis from being harmed or suffering loss as well as catching those people intent on inflicting such harm and loss.

I cannot speak for other institutions, but the Police service as Chief HMI Tom Winsor rightly highlights ‘The Police are therefore one of the most essential of our public services’.

In respect of culture, to those who report, review, and comment on the service, I offer a reflection, that there is a culture of vocation, determination and commitment, that is positive and an institution that our citizens can trust.

The Home Secretary has decided to implement this recommendation and the PSAEW was recently asked to submit evidence on what it believed a Pay Review Body for the police should look like.  Following extensive consultation with its members, the PSAEW submitted a comprehensive report to the Government in January 2013.

The Government received 55 other responses. The Government has published its Response to those who submitted evidence on the implementation of a Police Pay Review Body.

In the Home Secretary’s recent announcement to the House she said that the new Pay Review Body will be called the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) and will be introduced in the autumn of 2014.

The Philip Pearson Practice is a family based firm specialised in offering bespoke and expert advice in a wide range of important areas including pensions, investments, Inheritance Tax planning and protection but with the security and backing of a FTSE 250 company.

Philip, with more than 20 years’ experience, has had a long standing and professional relationship with the Police Federations and several Police Forces and therefore is able to understand the core needs and requirements of Police Officers and their families.

“I had sought advice from many different organisations, but none of them looked into my circumstances like Phil to see what amount I could actually afford to invest”

We hold regular Pre-Retirement Seminars for Superintendents covering a wide range of subjects including;

• Pension Options at Retirement
• Life after the Police
• Money Management/Budgeting
• Taxation
• Investment Strategy & Portfolio Management
• Estate Planning and Wills
• Financial Protection Against Risk

“Philip has always put my interests first by giving sound and trustworthy advice. The service and support has always been exceptional. I would not hesitate in recommending him to anyone.”

If you would be interested in attending one of our Pre-Retirement Seminars please visit our website www.philippearsonwm.co.uk/psaew or contact ann.pearson@sjpp.co.uk for more information.

The dates for 2013 are:-

Wednesday 5^th June – MacDonlald Berystede Hotel, Berkshire
Wednesday 25^th Sept – Crewe Hall, Cheshire
Tuesday 19^th November – Nuthurst Grange Hotel, Warwickshire

*Wills involve a service which is separate and distinct to those offered by St. James’s Place.

The Partner represents only St. James’s Place Wealth Management plc (which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority) for the purpose of advising solely on the Group’s wealth management products and services, more details of which are set out on the Group’s website www.sjp.co.uk/products. The title ‘Partner’ is a marketing term used to describe St. James’s Place representatives.

“As colleagues will be aware, the Government has announced that there will be a policy of limiting pay awards in the public sector to an average of one percent.

“Police officers in England and Wales have received no pay rise since September 2010. In addition many have been subject to an incremental progression freeze and other changes which have reduced the value of police officers’ pay.

“Staff Side wrote to the Official Side of the Police Negotiating Board (PNB) on 21 January 2013 asking for its proposals in respect of the up-rating police officers’ pay for 2013-14. At today’s meeting of the PNB the Official Side responded with an offer to increase all points on the pay scales for police officers by one percent with effect from 1 September 2013.

“Although the Government has a pay policy for public sector workers in respect of the next two years, this agreement on pay up-rating for police officers applies only for 2013-14.

“After carefully considering the prospects of improving upon this position in the current economic climate and the need for certainty among officers in terms of managing their finances for the coming year, Staff Side has agreed to accept this proposal.”

 

 

 

 

 

Primarily he is looking for approximately 6 external consultants spread across the UK who could undertake investigations into serious incidents, usually operational, professional standards or even fatal incident investigations and for these consultants to have a second string to their bow of being a subject matter expert on certain facets of policing, such as professional standards, communications, custody, crime etc.  There is no guarantee of work and nothing expected to tie down anyone to work exclusively for Serco but he would want some non-disclosure or confidentiality agreement. Trevor is also not expecting the only persons to be interested to have been career detectives and considers any of his former colleagues would have the qualifications necessary, and especially the most important quality of integrity.

Anyone interested should send their CV to Trevor together with an indication of their daily rates. Serco would normally pay a daily rate plus expenses and anyone interested can also contact Trevor directly to discuss these opportunities further. Trevor can be contacted at trevor.brading@serco.com

A number of internationally renowned speakers and experts will be attending the event and giving presentations in the area of expertise - the link below will take you to a full conference programme.

This is a wonderful opportunity to both learn from others and share your experiences with colleagues from around the globe. Click here to view details