Police Federation's legitimacy queried in tough post-plebgate review
30 Oct 2013:
Staff organisation has lost the confidence of its members and risks becoming an irrelevance, independent report warns
Staff organisation has lost the confidence of its members and risks becoming an irrelevance, independent report warns
Police at a meeting in Westminster in 2011 watch a video address by Theresa May Photograph: Graham Turner for the Guardian
The damaging impact of the so-called plebgate affair on the Police
Federation and on the wider legitimacy of British policing underlines
the urgent need to reform the organisation, an independent review
commissioned by its leadership has said.
A hard-hitting progress report by the review team, headed by a former Home Office permanent secretary, says the federation, which represents 127,200 rank-and-file police officers, has "substantially lost the confidence of its members", who are appalled at the damage caused by plebgate. They also warn the staff federation is in danger of losing the confidence of the public and of losing "its legitimacy to represent front-line policing".
Their report says the events surrounding some federation officials' dealings with the former Conservative party chief whip Andrew Mitchell have tested public confidence in the federation as never before, and are damaging the organisation, its members and the wider police service.
"Every time it appears to be taking up political and partisan positions and engaging in campaigns against particular individuals, it risks undermining the impartiality and integrity which the public expect from the police," the independent experts say.
"It not only antagonises the very people it is most seeking to influence; it affects wider public confidence, on which the legitimacy of the British model of policing rests."
The independent review was set up by Steve Williams, the new Police Federation chairman, who has been called a traitor and a dictator, and faced no-confidence motion for trying to drive through a programme of reform of the organisation after he took up the role earlier this year.
The membership of the independent panel, which is chaired by Sir David Normington, includes the former chief inspector of constabulary Sir Denis O'Connor, the former TUC general secretary Sir Brendan Barber and a former chair of the Merseyside police federation, Kathryn Kane.
The review team says that in the course of its inquiry it has met leaders of the organisation at every level who believe it should stand for the highest standards of conduct and behaviour in policing.
But it warns: "We have also encountered some who pursue narrow self-interest, some behaviours that should not be tolerated in any way, and a degree of carelessness with the federation's reputation from a number of elected representatives at local and national level.
"If the federation is to succeed in the future, the membership need to get behind those leaders who want the federation to stand for all that is best in policing."
Their progress report singles out for criticism "some of the behaviours exhibited at past annual conferences" – a reference to the barracking of the home secretary, Theresa May, two years ago - and the plebgate affair.
The staff federation still has the same structure as when it was set up a century ago in the aftermath of the 1919 police strike, and officers are still banned from taking industrial action.
The review report cites an Ipsos Mori survey it commissioned showing that 91% of 12,500 police officers survey agree on the need for reform but only 29% feel the federation has the capacity to change. A total of 64% say they are dissatisfied with the performance of the federation, but there is consensus on what needs to be done.
The review team is to publish its final recommendations early next year.
The Police Federation said the initial findings were worrying and raised a number of issues for consideration and further debate within the organisation".
"We must not lose sight of the fact that it was the new incoming chair of the Police Federation, Steve Williams, who asked for an independent review to be carried outin January because of the concerns that had been raised concerning the federation and some of its working practices," it said in a statement.
"It was important that we understood how these impacted on the federation and how we could change the organisation to ensure that we were fit for purpose moving forward. As the progress report highlights, the Federation is an organisation that is in need of change." Copy http://www.theguardian.com/uk-new
A hard-hitting progress report by the review team, headed by a former Home Office permanent secretary, says the federation, which represents 127,200 rank-and-file police officers, has "substantially lost the confidence of its members", who are appalled at the damage caused by plebgate. They also warn the staff federation is in danger of losing the confidence of the public and of losing "its legitimacy to represent front-line policing".
Their report says the events surrounding some federation officials' dealings with the former Conservative party chief whip Andrew Mitchell have tested public confidence in the federation as never before, and are damaging the organisation, its members and the wider police service.
"Every time it appears to be taking up political and partisan positions and engaging in campaigns against particular individuals, it risks undermining the impartiality and integrity which the public expect from the police," the independent experts say.
"It not only antagonises the very people it is most seeking to influence; it affects wider public confidence, on which the legitimacy of the British model of policing rests."
The independent review was set up by Steve Williams, the new Police Federation chairman, who has been called a traitor and a dictator, and faced no-confidence motion for trying to drive through a programme of reform of the organisation after he took up the role earlier this year.
The membership of the independent panel, which is chaired by Sir David Normington, includes the former chief inspector of constabulary Sir Denis O'Connor, the former TUC general secretary Sir Brendan Barber and a former chair of the Merseyside police federation, Kathryn Kane.
The review team says that in the course of its inquiry it has met leaders of the organisation at every level who believe it should stand for the highest standards of conduct and behaviour in policing.
But it warns: "We have also encountered some who pursue narrow self-interest, some behaviours that should not be tolerated in any way, and a degree of carelessness with the federation's reputation from a number of elected representatives at local and national level.
"If the federation is to succeed in the future, the membership need to get behind those leaders who want the federation to stand for all that is best in policing."
Their progress report singles out for criticism "some of the behaviours exhibited at past annual conferences" – a reference to the barracking of the home secretary, Theresa May, two years ago - and the plebgate affair.
The
autonomous actions of officials of the West Midlands branch of the
federation in their treatment of Mitchell has been repeatedly
highlighted as having happened against the advice of national officials.
The three West Midlands officials last week refused to apologise for
the account they gave of a meeting with Mitchell in the aftermath of the
Plebgate incident in Downing Street.
The review team argues that
without urgent reform the organisation is now in danger of becoming an
irrelevance at a time when policing is undergoing major changes, and may
face having external reform imposed on it.The staff federation still has the same structure as when it was set up a century ago in the aftermath of the 1919 police strike, and officers are still banned from taking industrial action.
The review report cites an Ipsos Mori survey it commissioned showing that 91% of 12,500 police officers survey agree on the need for reform but only 29% feel the federation has the capacity to change. A total of 64% say they are dissatisfied with the performance of the federation, but there is consensus on what needs to be done.
The review team is to publish its final recommendations early next year.
The Police Federation said the initial findings were worrying and raised a number of issues for consideration and further debate within the organisation".
"We must not lose sight of the fact that it was the new incoming chair of the Police Federation, Steve Williams, who asked for an independent review to be carried outin January because of the concerns that had been raised concerning the federation and some of its working practices," it said in a statement.
"It was important that we understood how these impacted on the federation and how we could change the organisation to ensure that we were fit for purpose moving forward. As the progress report highlights, the Federation is an organisation that is in need of change." Copy http://www.theguardian.com/uk-new
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