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Select committee inquiry

Reform of the Police Federation

Closed

Home Affairs Committee · Opened 27 February 2014 · Closed 13 January 2015

1 recommendation · 6 conclusions
Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗

What the inquiry looked at

“An inquiry into the Reform of the Police Federation.”

The committee's words, from the inquiry page on parliament.uk ↗.

What the government said

The government responded on 18 July 2014.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response.

The Home Secretary says she "fully support[s] the conclusions" of the Committee's report and notes that many recommendations fall to the Federation to consider.

  • On reserves, she agrees that it is "not right" for the Federation to have built them up, and that the money should be spent in members' interest or returned, which "it is for the Federation to decide" and justify to members.
  • On accounts, she has "formally exercised my powers to request a copy of all branch accounts" and will publish them herself if branches fail to do so; she intends to strengthen her powers to call in accounts.
  • On legislation, she will make the necessary changes to regulations "at the earliest opportunity", taking account of the Federation's progress on the detail of the reforms.
  • On membership, she announced that it "will no longer be compulsory", is changing the law so subscriptions are taken only from those who "actively choose to pay", and remains prepared to legislate if the Federation fails to act.

Read the government's response ↗ Read the report ↗ Report an error

How the inquiry ran

Each dot is a dated item listed on this page, from the inquiry's opening on 27 February 2014 to its close on 13 January 2015.

  1. Oral evidence 3 sessions
  2. Report 16 May 2014
  3. Government response 18 Jul 2014

What it recommended 1 recommendation · 6 conclusions

1We welcome the Independent Review of the Police Federation.
Concluded (the committee's words)
We welcome the Independent Review of the Police Federation. We commend the outgoing Chair of the Federation, Steve Williams, for initiating the Review, which has the potential to become the springboard for far-reaching reforms which will benefit both the Federation’s members and the wider community of policing.
2Reports of systematic bullying within the senior echelons of the Police Federation are shocking.
Concluded (the committee's words)
Reports of systematic bullying within the senior echelons of the Police Federation are shocking. The police officer’s duty to act with fairness, integrity, diligence and impartiality, upholding fundamental human rights and according equal respect to all people, applies equally to those who serve the police family as officers of the Federation, yet it appears that standards of behaviour within the Federation have consistently fallen well short of those the public, as well as their fellow officers, are entitled to expect from police officers.
3Mr Gaunt cynically sought to exploit the “Plebgate” incident—over which, so far, one officer has...
Concluded (the committee's words)
Mr Gaunt cynically sought to exploit the “Plebgate” incident—over which, so far, one officer has been sent to jail and three others have been dismissed—as part of a manipulative media strategy which included what he described as “blitzkrieg” and “guerrilla” tactics. Three of the officers whom Mr Gaunt advised are now under investigation by the IPCC as a result of their actions. This entire episode does the Federation no credit at all. It must think much more carefully in the future about the nature of its public campaigning and its public relations advice. We do not think that this contract was appropriate, and do not think the work of the Gaunt Brothers helped the police. Indeed, the consequence was a lowering of the reputation for the police.
4The case for reform of the Police Federation has been powerfully made.
Concluded (the committee's words)
The case for reform of the Police Federation has been powerfully made. The Normington Report presents a sensible, balanced and proportionate package of reform which, if implemented, will help the organisation to move forward, to restore its damaged reputation, and to re-focus on the core business of representing the interests of its members. We commend it to the 2014 Police Federation Annual Conference.
5We find it astonishing that the Police Federation Headquarters has no national database of members...
Concluded (the committee's words)
We find it astonishing that the Police Federation Headquarters has no national database of members and therefore no way of communicating directly with its membership. This must be remedied in the near future and, given our earlier 14 Reform of the Police Federation recommendation that each member should be reimbursed for overpaid subscriptions, the Federation should ensure that all members send in their contact details in order to receive correspondence.
6It will be important to move quickly with implementing these reforms and, to that end,...
Recommended (the committee's words)
It will be important to move quickly with implementing these reforms and, to that end, the Normington Report has recommended that many of the changes should be introduced in the most expeditious way possible, whether by executive action or by decisions of the Conference or Joint Central Committee. However, in order to place the reform on a secure footing for the future, it will be necessary for some of these changes to be incorporated into statute. We recommend that, following the Annual Conference in May 2014, the Home Office work closely with the Police Federation to establish what changes to statute will be required to embed the new reforms. Much of this can be achieved by secondary legislation, and any primary legislation would be likely to be short. We recommend that the Government find time for Parliament to consider the necessary legislation during the 2014–15 Session.
7The Police Federation is, as we have already noted, a statutory body created by Parliament.
Concluded (the committee's words)
The Police Federation is, as we have already noted, a statutory body created by Parliament. Its membership, whom it does not currently serve as well as it could, do not join voluntarily but become members automatically on taking up the office of constable. We believe it would be best for the Federation to reform from within, with the support of its members, on the basis of the Normington proposals. However, if that reform is not taken forward, it would be derelict of Parliament and the Government to stand aside and watch the Federation continue to let its members down. We hope that, under new leadership, the Federation will agree to the changes as set out in the Normington Report of its own accord. If this does not happen, the Home Secretary should compel the organisation to do so through the introduction of a new statutory framework.

Evidence

Oral evidence sessions 3