THE HOME Office has the speed of a tractor, not a racing car, when it comes to helping the Police Federation of England and Wales to reform itself, the Fed’s General Secretary \u00a0has said.<\/p>\n
The organisaton is in the process of implementing the 36 recommendations for change as made in the Normington Review – published last year. But the Police Federation annual conference heard that \u2013 with changes in legislation needed – the Home Office is slowing up the reform process.<\/p>\n
The Federation is around 40% of its way through the programme, the conference heard on Thursday (21 May), and work is \u201cin progress\u201d on 23 remaining recommendations.<\/p>\n
In a session on reform, Andy Fittes, General Secretary of the Federation, said: \u201cThe Home Office are not a racing car – they are a tractor. It may be a dependable tractor that doesn\u2019t break down very often but it sure wasn\u2019t built for speed.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we will hold our end of the bargain on this. We will get the work that they need to do to them. We need to get this work done and to get this work to the Home Office so that they can deliver their end of the bargain. The Home Secretary said she will stand up to that. But it won\u2019t be our fault if anyone slips. We will hold our end of the bargain.\u201d<\/p>\n
Delegates heard 80 per cent of the PFEW reforms are expected to be completed by 2016 with all completed by 2018.<\/p>\n
One of the first changes to be made took place in June last year when the core purpose for the organisation was accepted.<\/p>\n
The recommendation said: \u201cThe starting point should be a revised statutory purpose for the Federation which sets a new tone and commitment, recognises the reality of its accountability to its members and the public and incorporates a commitment to new standards of conduct and transparency.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Fittes said: \u201cThat really sets us off on the right foot – it demonstrates a willingness to change and it puts accountability and transparency at the heart of the organisation. And for an organisation that doesn\u2019t do a lot of change, it\u2019s the first time we did something like that since 1919. The Home Secretary [in her speech to conference] said she intends to put that core purpose into legislation. But at the end of the day it matters not because it lies at the heart of what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n
The separate rank structures were removed in April and a joint fund was set up so members\u2019 subscriptions – 70% of which go to Leatherhead – go into a joint fund. And a \u201cfinancial transparency clause\u201d has also been accepted which requires the Federation to publish details of its accounts.<\/p>\n
Mr Fittes said: \u201cThat doesn\u2019t hold any fear. We say it often enough that we don\u2019t have anything to hide. We are police officers. We do not have anything to hide over our accounts. That clause is not a problem for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
This week an \u201copenness commitment\u201d was signed by Federation Chairman Steve White and Chairmen of all the joint branch boards around the country to confirm they will make all committee papers and minutes available to members.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s another way of putting transparency at the heart of the federation,\u201d Mr Fittes added.<\/p>\n
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