Reproduced below is a detailed
report from our General Secretary.
J B FINNIE
JBB Secretary
13th February 2001
"REGIONAL
ALLOWANCE
In the December 2000 PNB Bulletin, I explained that the Staff Side had
submitted a claim for a Regional Allowance for all police officers in the UK
recruited on or after 1st September 1994, the effective date on
which the government abolished Housing Allowances. This claim seeks an annual payment of £2,307 for all police
officers in Scotland recruited on or after 1st September 1994, and
different levels of payments in other "regions" of the UK based on
regional pay differences which reflect cost of living and housing costs. That Bulleting contained a summary of the
claim and the full claim is detailed in JCC Circular No 112/2000.
There have now been a number of PNB meetings where the Regional
Allowance claim and an Official Side proposal for allowances for Forces
surrounding London have been discussed.
At a meeting of the Full Board of the PNB held in London on Thursday 8th
February 2001, agreement was reached on the Forces surrounding London which
provides for an annual payment of £2000 for post September 1994 officers in
Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Surrey and Thames Valley, and £1000 for such
officers in Bedfordshire, Hampshire and Sussex effective from 1st
April 2001.
The Staff Side accepted the above arrangement on the condition that the
Regional Allowance claim was progressed.
The Staff Side were fully aware that the Official Side did not favour
the claim and were determined that there should be no delay in completing the
negotiation, conciliation and arbitration process.
At the same meeting, the Official Side rejected our claim for a Regional
Allowance, the Staff Side registered a failure to agree, and the claim will now
proceed to Conciliation and, if necessary, to Arbitration. The Official Side gave an assurance that it
would enter conciliation before the next scheduled meeting of the PNB Full
Board (4th April) and it is expected that this procedure will take
place in March.
Conciliation allows the Independent Chairman of the PNB to bring the two
Sides together to explore and exhaust the potential for a negotiated
settlement. If that fails, the matter
is referred to three arbitrators, appointed by the Prime Minister from the
Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration (ACAS) who constitute the Police
Arbitration Tribunal.
While I cannot be certain the Conciliation will fail, it seems clear
from the negotiations so far that the two Sides are very far apart on the
question of a Regional Allowance. The
Staff Side is convinced that there needs to be a UK wide settlement to resolve
the "before" and "after" 1994 problem created by the
government abolition of housing allowances.
It is convinced that a serious morale problem exists and that there is
evidence of actual recruitment and retention difficulties in some areas and the
potential for such difficulties just around the corner in other areas. It does not intend that the claim for a
Regional Allowance fulfil the same function as rent or housing allowance but
rather as a modern allowance which reflects the wider labour markets in which
the service operates. The claim intends
to begin a process which will remove the inequities from the remuneration
structures leading to a fully integrated allowance within a fair and
transparent remuneration structure.
On the other hand, the Official Side does not support the removal of the
1994 anomaly and does not agree that there are recruitment and retention
problems outwith the Forces in an around London. Therefore, it seems to me that conciliation is unlikely to
succeed and that independent arbitration will be necessary. If that turns out to be the case, it is
highly unlikely that the arbitration will be held before April and possible
that it could be held in May 2001.
PAY
CLAIM
Negotiations on pay are continuing in the PNB Joint Working Party and
are scheduled to continue until 4th April 2001. At this stage I cannot add to the
information contained in the PNB Bulletin of December 2000.
Douglas J Keil QPM
General Secretary
9th February 2001"
