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EVE OF CONFERENCE The Eve of Conference Meeting was held on Monday afternoon at the BiC. The meeting was entitled ‘Equal Risk, Equal Pay’. Sam Roberts, the Chairperson, opened the meeting by stating that in the past year we have lost female colleagues and so are facing the same risks as our male colleagues and should therefore receive the same pay. A moving video was shown of all fallen female officers, including PC Philippa Parish, a Hampshire officer who died on duty in 1996. Then followed a presentation by Jayne Monkhouse OBE, Equality Advisor to the Police Federation on the Equal Pay Audit. Equal pay is about the pay of men and women. The National pay gap for full time officers is 15.5%. Unequal pay is a consequence of the way women’s work was and is undervalued, or how men’s work is especially rewarded. The audit looked at the average pay of all male constables nationally, including SPP, CRTP etc. which is then compared to the average pay of women of that rank. Some causes of equal pay gap are e.g. traffic, firearms) having time off) systems, unsocial hours & shift working, length of service). The percentage pay gap for each rank is Constables 10%, Sergeants 7.5%, Inspectors 3.6% and Chief Inspectors 3.4%. EHRC says that a pay gap should be investigated if it is more than 5%. Any organisation can have a difference in pay but it must be because of a material factor that is unrelated to gender. Police forces should be identifying their own pay gap and looking to see what they can do to reduce it. Next there was a legal update from Emma Hawksworth of Slater Gordon solicitors. Emma explained the definition of disability and the duty to make reasonable adjustments. Two recent cases were then presented to the meeting. An officer was diagnosed with cancer in 2006. She had treatment, recovered and returned to work in 2007. The radiotherapy treatment had reduced the effectiveness of her immune system and therefore she had lots of short term sickness. In early 2011, her sickness came onto the force’s radar as she had exceeded the trigger. The Force increased her trigger to 12-24 days per year. The FMA said that increasing her trigger would be a reasonable adjustment. He suggested around 20% would be reasonable, which equated to 44 days per year. In October 2011, her trigger was set at 13.2 days per year. She took her case to an employment tribunal. The tribunal found that she had been disadvantaged due to her disability and that the force had failed to make a reasonable adjustment as the 13 days target was not reasonable. 8 www.hampshirepolfed.org.uk The second case concerned an officer diagnosed with multiple scerlosis and certified as permanently disabled. The force decided to retain him with a role in the Crime Management Unit. In 2010 the force decided to move the unit to another location, an hour’s drive away. The officer requested to work from his local station. In January 2011, the force found that the role could not be done remotely. In Feb 2011, he was medically retired. He took his case to an employment tribunal and the ET found that insufficient consideration had been given to possibility of working remotely. The level of consideration required is the same as that for flexible working applications. The ET found that the effect of the officer working remotely was a minor inconvenience rather than having a significant impact. The final presentation was entitled Fair & Just Management by Professor Jennifer Brown, who is assisting with Labour’s Independent Review of Policing. Jennifer presented results of surveys she has conducted with police officers nationally. Her surveys show that if fairness levels are high, officers are more likely to accept changes, perform better, feel committed and are better able to have a good work-life balance. Her final statement was that every police force should be ‘an organisation brave enough to admit when it’s wrong.’ Sam Roberts made some closing comments. The Equal Pay Audit does not make for easy reading and we need to ensure that any changes and the impact of the College of Policing does not disproportionately affect female officers. Zoe Wakefield Reserve Seat Sergeants Representative Hampshire Police Federation
Did you know? The Federation subscriptions you pay receive tax relief? However, you must apply for it. For more information and a pro forma letter all of the details can be found on our website. Here is the link http://www.hampshirepolfed.org.uk/services/tax.htm Federation Times Issue 8 June 2013 Federation Conference - An observers view DC Scott Spafford works within CID at Eastleigh. Like many police officers he wants’ to make sure his Police Federation are working on his behalf so Scott came to this years Federation conference to see for himself if the Police Federation were doing their bit. These are his thoughts… So what does the Federation do for me? A question asked by so many across the force I thought I right to find out more so I asked to attend the 2013 Federation Conference as an observer (which meant taking 4 days leave to do so)! This years Conference was held at Bournemouth and it’s fair to say that it was well organised and strictly run to a set of established rules and guidelines. The first full day of Conference began with each rank holding its own meeting so I duly sat through the Constables Central Committee Meeting to see how the 80% of the Federation members transact their business and how our voices are heard. A lively morning was had and it’s fair to say that up and down the country was have some strong representation who care about the changes we have gone through. The Shadow Home Secretary gave the opposition view on the first afternoon and came across well. Received by those present and listening. The new Chairman of the Federation Steve WILLIAMS spoke about the review of the Federation and how by working together with the Home Office and policing the future. Given it was his first keynote speech it seemed well structured and honest. He acknowledged the Federation needs to change to progress and despite some indifference from certain quarters I feel the forthcoming review of the Federation and its practices should lead to it being more efficient can only be a good thing. Hampshire Police Federation invited both the PCC Mr HAYES and the Chief Constable Mr MARSH to conference on the Wednesday morning. The PCC and the Chief Constable were in the observers area and listened to a debate about Privatisation of some police services was addressed. It’s fair to say that to get some frontline vacancies filled there may be merit in exploring this avenue. We then listened to the Home Secretary Theresa MAY. It was good to see that the entire Conference remained professional and did not jeer Mrs May after last year. The announcement that ‘life means life’ for the murder of an officer doing their duty was VERY well received. Questions put to her at the end of her speech definitely tested her as an MP !! My personal view was that the Home Secretary was a little reconciliatory after the wholesale changes we have been through and seemed to offer a little olive branch towards us without giving us anything. This lead on to Tom WINSOR (yes THAT one) speaking in his new role as Chief HMIC. Clearly he is now coming from a totally differing direction following his review of our service and he now strives to work with us. I believe that his review of all 43 forces individually will be a good thing – If you get the chance to speak to him as part of the review, be honest with him as that’s how you can make changes for the better. We have taken knocks over the last couple of years as a service and the Federation acknowledge that. WINSOR and HUTTON were going to happen no matter what we did. But to defence of the Federation they did all they can, they have clearly tried to defend our position and rights. The Federation AGM on the final day saw a number of ballots put to the Conference for changes to its constitution and other matters which will be published elsewhere. What was clear from my time at the Conference was the sense of togetherness, camaraderie, passion and care that the Federation reps have on behalf of every one of its members and that they and we do have a voice that is listened to. I was impressed by the professionalism of our local reps, they genuinely care about representing us, many of them in their own time. I was one of those who would moan about why the Federation hadn’t done this, or complained about why they had done that, but spending some time with has opened my eyes and reassured me. I for one intend becoming more active with the Federation and joining as a rep (subject to a ballot of course)! DC Scott Spafford EE CID www.hampshirepolfed.org.uk 9
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Page 5 and 6: Tom Winsor Tom Winsor attended this
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