Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) and Scene Preservation

Every day somewhere up and down the country a crime will be committed that requires the scene to preserved for evidence. This could be for a matter of hours, days or weeks dependent on the crime. As police forces face massive cuts in finance police community support officers (PCSOs) are being utilised more and more […]

Stop probation privatisation

It is Chris Graylings ideological view that private companies can run the probation service better than it is currently being run and he somehow believes that inexperienced private companies and their untrained staff can reduce reoffending in a very short period of time. This proposal is not just due to austerity this is yet another […]

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for Police Staff

A number of police staff are employed in roles or environments that are confrontational. Many believe that they need to be provided with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) as a safety measure. Forces have been issued with guidance with regard to the provision or non provision of PPE for groups of workers that have resulted in […]

Probation on Probation

The changes to the probation service that took effect on 1 June 2014 are yet another example of the condem government dismantling and privatising public services. We believe the changes were not necessary, and that they will ultimately prove to have been a disastrous and costly move. They are quite likely to place the users […]

Protecting Equality in the Probation Service

Conference welcomes the campaigning work by our union against the potential privatisation of the probation service. Alongside concerns about the likely disastrous impact on service delivery are very real concerns about the impact on staff terms and conditions. The probation service, as a public body, was subject to the Public Sector Equality Duty and as […]

Neighbourhood Policing – The Future?

Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) are the backbone of Neighbourhood Policing. Due to the abstraction of Neighbourhood Police Officers to support response teams and no longer carrying out any proactive work, this is placing the onus evermore on our overworked PCSO members. What is the future for Neighbourhood Policing? Since this coalition government came to […]

Career Progression in the CRC?

Conference, the Probation Service has now been split into 21 Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRC) and one National Probation Service (NPS). However, the process that saw staff assigned to the CRCs and NPS was not an agreed process, nor was it fair, in many cases it was purely arbitrary with staff names being drawn out of […]

National Alignment of Terms and Conditions in Approved Premises

The Probation Service has just been split into 21 Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRC) and one National Probation Service (NPS). All the Approved Premises (AP) in England and Cymru Wales have been assigned to the NPS and along with the 21 CRCs will be subject to a single table national collective bargaining agreement. The APs are […]

Discipline Investigations and Processes

Conference notes that the Police Staff Council of England and Wales published Guidance on Police Staff Misconduct Procedures on 15th August 2011. These guidelines, where adopted, provide a reassuring framework for staff that are being investigated for cases of misconduct or gross misconduct. However, many investigations are being conducted by warranted police officers in Professional […]

Volunteer Police Community Support Officers

Conference we are concerned about the recruitment of Volunteer Police Community Support Officers. These volunteers will be in full uniform and working alongside regular employed Police Community Support Officers (PCSO). They will not have the same powers as the PCSOs but will have the same core objectives and responsibilities. The main concerns are: 1)They have […]

Future of Probation Service

Probation Trusts across the country have now been abolished and replaced with 21 Community Rehabilitation Companies and a department within the Civil Service. We believe that this will significantly impact on our job roles leaving members uncertain as to what their responsibilities are. We call upon Service Group Executive to liaise with Labour Link within […]

Clothing for everyone

Conference we believe that uniform standards nationally do not reflect current definitions of transgender people. We believe it is the right of employees to wear clothing that is fit for purpose but not gender specific unless it is appropriate to their self identified gender. Conference calls on the Service Group Executive (SGE) to 1)Consult with […]

Travel Insurance

Conference notes with concern the lack of reviewing of the age of the older population when Travel Insurance is required. Insurance companies take no consideration for anyone becoming “over 70 years of age” and premiums are increased on age alone. Government policy on retirement age is to increase the age of retirement. Therefore we instruct […]

Probation: Stop the Sell Off

Conference condemns the decision of the Coalition Government to proceed with the split of the Probation workforce into the National Probation Service (NPS) and the 21 Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) on 1 June. Conference notes that the split was undertaken despite: 1)A formal request from the probation unions to the Ministry of Justice Permanent Secretary […]

RESTRUCTURING ANNUAL RETIRED MEMBERS’ CONFERENCE

Conference acknowledges that after the narrow defeat on a card vote of motion 32 at last year’s conference the issue of the structure of Retired Members Conference needs to be looked at in more depth. In recent years Conference has allowed more time for debate of motions at the beginning of the agenda often to […]