Page 4 - Federation magazine: October / November 2016

Interim chairman’s introduction
Autumn:
a time for
change?
Photo courtesy Express & Star concentrate on far more important
matters – the future funding of policing
By Tom Cuddeford, interim chairman of being just one example.
West Midlands Police Federation While the previous chancellor put a
brake on cuts to our budgets, we are yet to
Autumn is the political parties’ see any move towards increasing funding
conference season. This year, with and, of course, we are all still feeling the November.
all the political turmoil of the last pain of the previous round of funding
few months, there will perhaps be more restrictions.
interest in these annual gatherings than On 28 November the Force is due to
usual. Only time will tell. implement Transition Stage 1 of WM2020,
But, whatever is going on in the structural changes forced upon it by
internal workings of the major parties, budget cuts imposed by the Government.
everyone in policing must be craving some While we fully accept these changes may
political stability so that politicians can be the right way forward under the
current financial situation, what we don’t
accept is that 28 November is the right
time for them to be implemented.
It is for this reason that we took the
unusual step of publishing an open letter
to the Chief Constable asking for him to
postpone ‘Transition Day’.
The Force – and its workforce – is
facing many challenges over the next
couple of months – the Tory Party
conference in Birmingham, for example.
Christmas, as we all know, has always
proved a difficult time too. We know that
it’s the same day every year, we know the
demands it causes and yet each year we
seem to face the same issues, with
cancellation of leave and rest days proving
an unnecessary frustration for officers
wanting to plan some family time over the
festive season.
So, it is for this reason that we called
04 federation October/November 2016
for a delay in launching the new structure.
The Chief has responded to our letter and
there have been several meetings between
your Federation officials and the chief
officer team but at the time of going to
print the date was still set at 28
In one sense, we understand that the
Chief Constable’s hands are tied. If the
Force is to make savings, difficult decisions
have to be taken. The number one priority
has to be to provide the best policing
service we can with the resources
available and the Chief, working closely
with the Police and Crime Commissioner,
is trying to do that. We get that. Any delay
will, of course, impact on savings but a
delay would, we believe, also deliver real
benefits to officers and staff which, in
turn, will be good for our communities.
What is really needed though is
Government investment in policing; a
Government commitment to ensuring our
police service is adequately resourced and,
perhaps above all, a Government
acknowledgement that it values the role
of the British police service.
When Amber Rudd took over as Home
Secretary in July this year, one of her first
engagements was to attend the National
Police Bravery Awards which must – if
indeed it was even necessary – have
brought it home to her how police officers
put their lives on the line when protecting
their communities.
But since then two more significant
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