- Conference
- 2012 Police & Justice Conference
- Date
- 1 January 2012
- Decision
- Carried
Conference recognises that the election of Police and Crime Commissioners in November this year will fundamentally change the landscape of policing and potentially a wide range of other justice services in the future. UNISON was opposed to the concept of Police and Crime Commissioners, because we did not believe that a single elected politician could possibly represent the interests of electors across the biggest constituencies ever elected to in England and Wales. However, Commissioners are the Government’s one big idea for policing and they were determined to bring them in against the opposition of virtually every police stakeholder.
Conference recognises that, now they are about to become a reality, UNISON needs to fully engage in both the process of electing Police and Crime Commissioners and the process of holding them to account post-election. Conference welcomes the work being done through the Labour Link to educate Labour Police and Crime Commissioner candidates about UNISON’s values and the aims of our members in the police service in England and Wales. In particular, Conference acknowledges the key work done by the union to highlight police privatisation and cuts as the key issues for UNISON, its members and the general public in the run up to the elections. Conference also recognises the threat to national collective bargaining that might be posed to the Police Staff Council for England and Wales, by the election of candidates unsympathetic to the aims of the trade union movement and our negotiating machinery lacking our understanding of and commitment to equality and social justice.
The police service is now entering into a new era. Party politics will now feature more heavily in the life of all Police Staff. Historically Police Staff have shied away from the political world, the wider issues associated with the Labour movement and issues in the wider political context. It is of course the decision of individuals and branches as to how much or how little they engage with political matters, but having been outside of the system for so long it is a reasonable assumption that many members and branches may be unaware of how they can get involved and what exactly they are permitted to do in a political context.
This conference notes the good work done by Regions and Regional Labour Link forums, to give their support to a Labour candidate who is supportive of our aims and objectives; whilst at the same time not damaging the relationships between local branches and Police Authorities.
This conference believes, however, that the process that was going to be followed could have been communicated to activists in a more transparent manner, allowing them to engage members and promote UNISON’s Labour Link.
Conference acknowledges the need to build relationships with Police and Crime Commissioners and their National Association or National Associations for the purpose of providing information and assistance with regard to the interests of our members.
Conference also recognises that Police and Crime Commissioners will have responsibilities that will extend beyond the world of policing and into other community justice services, including potentially probation. On behalf of our members in the Probation Service in England and Wales, Conference acknowledges that UNISON’s response to Police and Crime Commissioners must take this wider context into account.
Conference therefore calls on the Service Group Executive to:
1) Continue its work to seek the election of Police and Crime Commissioners who are sympathetic to the aims and objectives of UNISON, our members and the communities they serve including our equality objectives
2) Continue to work closely with our Labour Link to seek to ensure that Labour Police and Crime Commissioners understand the aims and aspirations of working people in the police service in England and Wales
3) Work with the successor body to the Association of Police Authorities (the Police and Crime Commissioners Association) to seek to ensure the continuation of national collective bargaining at the Police Staff Council for England and Wales
4) Develop a strategy for future working with Police and Crime Commissioners to seek to protect the interests of police staff under their employment/control
5) Seek to ensure that the transfer of police staff to Police and Crime Commissioners, and potentially to Chief Constables in 2014, maintains a comprehensive set of equality-proofed protections for the pay and conditions and pensions of our members
6) Seek advice and information from Labour Link and the General Political fund with regard to informing Police Staff members/Branches of the workings of the funds and the potential to make use of each respectively
7) Make available to Branches any relevant information gained from 6 above
8) Seek the views of Labour Link and the GPF for the potential for a national event for Police Staff Branches for the purpose of education and information about UNISONs political funds in a Police Staff context
9) Work with the National Labour Link Forum to evaluate and build on the process undertaken this year to engage with local Labour Party selections of Police and Crime Commissioners, to ensure that it can be used as an effective organising tool in future elections
10) Develop guidance for local branches on how to utilise Labour Link as an effective lobbying tool of their new employer
11) Develop guidance for local branches on how to promote Labour Link, and the specific benefits Police and Justice members could gain from being involved
12) Make contact with the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners and/or any other Police and Crime Commissioner Representative bodies as soon as is possible after the PCC elections for the purpose of building a future relationship