SCOTTISH
POLICE FEDERATION
NORTHERN BRANCH
Minutes of the 2nd Quarterly Meeting held
within The Marriott Hotel, Inverness on Friday 2nd June 2006.
1. Members Present
Julie Connor
John Crawford
D Craig Dale
R Alan Drummond - Chairman
Graeme Ednie - Assistant Secretary Elect
Simon Fraser
Archie Henderson
George MacDonald
Neil MacDonald
Linsey MacKintosh
Angus MacLeod
Alistair McBean (AM only)
David Miller
Donnie Ross
Calum Steele - Secretary Elect
2. Apologies
Hamish Grace (Vice Chairman) – Duty
Commitments
3. Opening of Meeting
The Chairman opened the meeting by
welcoming everyone present.
4. Adoption of Standing Orders
Standing Orders were formally adopted.
5. Approval of Minutes of Last Meeting
Minutes of the Last Meeting were
adopted as a true record subject to the following alteration at 14.09;
·
Removal of
first bullet point.
·
Removal of bold
text from second bullet point.
6. Matters Arising
6.1. Legal Advice / Conduct
The Secretary elect advised the
board that the well reported Employment Tribunal action raised by a
Federated Member from another Force, alleging that her Branch’s legal
protection scheme was discriminatory, has ruled that there was no case to
answer.
A Legal Opinion on ACPO(S) ‘draft’ Ambient
Listening policy has been prepared and this matter continues to be the
subject of ongoing national discussions.
The Deputy General Secretary has
written to the Information Commissioner ‘concerning the Disclosure of
Information relative to Police Officers previous convictions and outstanding
pending cases’ and is still awaiting a reply.
The Secretary elect advised the
meeting of a development in relation to the previously well documented
Inspectors Pay anomaly following a claim from colleagues in a Welsh force that
the settled claim should also relate to top scale Sergeants promoted to
Inspector prior to 1st Sept 1996. As the case was settled prior to
court proceedings, the implications for Scottish officers were unclear.
Note: Legal advice has now indicted
that there is no impact on Scottish arrangements as all affected officers
should have been identified within the examination of the original issue.
6.2. Police Pay and Conditions
a. PNB and other Circulars
The following circulars have been
received and are available at either www.ome.uk.com
or www.spf.org.uk.
PNB Circular 2006/03 Relocation Expenses
PNB Circular 2006/04 Motor vehicle Allowances
Police Pensions Circular 2006/03 Police Pensions: ‘A-Day’ and
Changes to Police Pensions Regulations 1987.
b. Removal Allowance
The Secretary Elect advised that
PNB Circular 2006/03 now covers the situation when, as a result of transfer, an
officer elects to set up a rental agreement as oppose to disposing of their
home by sale. This significant improvement for members is one which originated
from this Board.
The Secretary elect reported that
no change was required to the guidance prepared in respect of this subject
following the issuing of PNB Circular 2006/03 as the original guidance was
prepared to cover the provisions contained within.
Work continues on the ‘draft’
flow-chart and questionnaire.
The meeting agreed the importance
of dialogue between transferring officer and receiving SUM in advance of
transfer.
c. Pensions
The Secretary Elect and Assistant
Secretary Elect recently attended a seminar on the NPPS. This seminar was
presented by John Sturzaker of Russell, Jones & Walker, who is widely
regarded as one of the foremost experts on the subject.
The secretary elect provided the
Board a brief overview of some of the main provisions of the NPPS.
The NPPS is regarded by actuaries
as the 2nd best pension scheme available, the best being the PPS.
The Secretary elect reminded
Representatives that they should exercise caution in dealing with any pension
enquiry in order that nothing they say could be construed as providing
‘actuarial advice.’ All available information with be provided to the
Membership who should seek appropriate independent advice on any financial
matters.
All members should have received a
letter in relation to the new police pension scheme (NPPS) containing a
frequently asked questions section.
d. Vetting
The Secretary elect advised that
guidance was being considered in relation to recruits (applicants to the
service) and to external contractors working for the police and/or in police
premises.
The National Group examining the
whole issue of vetting had met in the past few days and the Secretary elect
undertook to circulate details of this meeting once known.
e. Official Side’s proposals
A fifth update is available on the
national web site.
The General Secretary has written
to the Justice Minister expressing concerns and criticism over the Official
Side’s assertion that they were ‘awaiting key ministerial direction’ prior to
the May deadline for negotiations.
The Board expressed alarm that such
a statement had been made but were content that the matter was receiving
appropriate attention.
The ‘proposals’ appeared in their
most basic sense to comprise two main elements, Police service reform and pay
reform. The Board were supportive of the National position that police service
reform was a matter solely for the Police Advisory Board and pay reform a
matter for the Police Negotiating Board.
A response to the John Randall
Report – Collective Bargaining for a Modernised Workforce – A Professional
Approach to Industrial Relations in the Police Service has been prepared
and submitted with the Scottish Police Federation being supportive of many of
the elements contained therein.
f. Regulatory Non Compliance
The Secretary elect advised that
since the last meting the Chief Constable has advised that no substantive
promotions will be made to the rank of Sergeant unless the officer has
completed the necessary Police Supervisory Skills Course and the People
Management Skills Training.
Any promotions necessary prior to
attendance at such courses will be on a temporary basis.
The Meeting discussed the
importance and pivotal role the Sergeant rank plays within the Force and were
supportive of any move aimed at avoiding difficulties. The meeting agreed the
importance of these courses and noted that Sergeants had previously waited of
up to 9 years prior to undertaking this essential training.
The meeting agreed the Secretary
elect should write to the Director of Human Resources to identify as a matter
of urgency;
·
Substantive
Sergeants who had yet to undertake this training.
·
Officers of
Inspecting rank yet to undertake designated officer Child Protection training.
·
Officers
carrying out the role of Custody Officer yet to receive the appropriate
training.
The meeting also agreed that the
Secretary elect should approach the Head of Operations to highlight the
meetings concerns over ensuring adequate cover is provided for child protection
Designated Officer duties within Area Commands.
6.3.
Health
& Safety
a. Uniforms/Officer Safety Equipment
The Secretary elect advised the
meeting that the Force had undertaken to test a random selection of the current
issue of body armour to establish whether it continues to offer the required
level of protection. This was in keeping with developments at a national level with
the working group examining uniform currently focused in this direction.
Concerns over various aspects of
the uniform had been expressed by other Forces and this will be fed into the
national Group.
The short term working party
chaired by the Deputy Chief Constable examining uniform locally has been
disbanded and replaced by a uniform working group, under the Chairmanship of
Chief Inspector Ian Arnott. The Assistant Secretary Elect represented the Board
on this group which met last week.
The Assistant Secretary Elect
advised the meeting that alarmingly cost appeared to be the foremost consideration
and that there was uncertainty over the go-live date for the issue of the ‘new’
uniform.
The Assistant Secretary Elect
advised the meeting he had recently met with the ‘new’ uniform’s designer and
undertook to circulate to members details of his discussions with him.
The meeting discussed at length
various issues in relation to the uniform and agreed that as the uniform was
designed on a layering principal that the base layer was the most important
feature.
The meeting agreed that the Secretary
write to the Chief Constable highlighting opposition to the issue of a white
shirt and tie as the principal uniform base layer, other than for occasions
such as court attendance.
b. Accidents, Injuries and Near Misses
The Secretary elect advised that
the lack of either proper investigation and/or and immediate remedial or
corrective action on Accident Reports was of continuing concern.
He advised that he has had
preliminary discussions with the Head of Operations with a view to developing a
strategy to overcome this ongoing problem.
The meeting agreed that the
previously established good practice of discussing H&S issues at local
management meeting had fallen into disrepute with issues the topic receiving
little more than lip service.
The Meeting agreed the importance
of the local meeting input and the Board undertook to rejuvenate this
exceptionally important standing agenda item.
The Meeting agreed the Secretary
elect should approach the Head of Operations with a view to offering weekly
input to Operational Commanders regarding ongoing topical H&S issues.
c. Airwaves
The Secretary elect advised that
our National Chairman has sought a meeting with Chief Constables to ensure that
they sign up to the offer of free health checks from Imperial College London.
There are issues over the number of locations at which the Health Checks can be
carried out and discussions are continuing in this regard. The meeting agreed
that the delay from ACPO(S) in relation to this issue was disappointing in the
extreme.
A problem has been highlighted to
Motorola in relation to hearing transmissions by the earpiece when at
particularly noisy venues (football matches, nightclubs etc).
Several forces have indicated that
officers are purchasing their own earpieces in order to allow the volume to be
turned up higher than the ‘issue’ earpiece allows. This has obvious
implications for officers Health & Safety. The response from Motorola has
been disappointing insofar as they have indicated they ‘may get round to it’.
O2 have indicated that they wish to
remove 13 masts from throughout Scotland as they are over their agreed
commitment in terms of the contract. Concerns have been expressed that this may
impact on the coverage afforded within buildings.
d. UK Health and Safety Inspection
This year’s United Kingdom wide health and safety check by the Federations will involve the inspection
of police vehicles. The inspections will take place over the week commencing 19th
June 2006.
The Secretary elect has given
advance notice to the Force of the date and subject of these inspections and
the Head of Operations has written to all SUM’s advising of their
responsibilities in ensuring time of for H&S duties is afforded to Safety
Representatives.
The meeting discussed the current
shortage of trained safety representatives on the Board and the implications
this had on meeting our commitments to statutory inspections. The Meeting
agreed the Secretary elect should examine the viability of running an exclusive
H&S training course for untrained Board members and approach the Chief
Constable to establish whether the Force would supply the venue.
6.4 Joint Branch Board
Constitution
The Secretary elect advised that he
had circulated proposed changes to the constitution to the working group. The
draft proposal dealt with the issues of non-subscribing members, secure
electronic voting, unfilled positions and the issue of electoral roll.
The draft has been forwarded to
Federation Lawyers for checking prior to advancing any further, at this time.
The Secretary elect advised the
board that he had consulted with other Board’s over the issue of non
subscribing members.
The Secretary Elect thereafter
provided the board with details of the secure electronic voting system
developed by the Board’s web provider along with details of how to access same
for examination.
6.5 CBRN Training issues
The meeting agreed this issue
should be considered under Health and Safety and be removed from the agenda.
6.6 Grievance Procedure /Harassment & Bullying Policy
The Secretary elect advised that
the ‘frequently asked questions’ appendix, provided by the Federation and
dealing specifically with the issue of mediation had now been included within
the Force Reference Document.
6.7 Group Insurances
The Secretary Elect advised that
despite best efforts a significant number of the forms, sent to ensure benefactor
accuracy, have at this stage not been returned.
The meeting discussed the
importance of ensuring accurate benefactor details especially at what are
usually exceptionally difficult circumstances.
The Board agreed to undertake
further communication with the membership to ensure that all forms are
completed and returned to the federation office.
He also advised of detailed
discussions with the Board’s Broker, Mr Gordon Carmichael on the ongoing
arrangements for the Group Schemes.
Following discussions at the last
meeting the Group Legal Protection Scheme is now provided by DAS. To obtain
commonality over renewal times DAS have offered an 18 month period of cover at
the existing premium. Details of the cover provided will be circulated to the
members on receipt.
Despite the recent exceptionally
high volume of claims Norwich Union have agreed to renew the Group Personal
Accident & Sickness (Salary replacement) Scheme, Critical Illness Scheme
and Group Personal Accident & Sickness (Capital Sums) Scheme at the current
premium but have given early indication of a likely increase in premium in
October 2007.
The Secretary elect reminded the
Board that the sports and activities contained within level 2 of the travel
policy were available to members at the additional premium of £20 per trip
(paid in advance to the Federation Office).
The Board Agreed to circulate this
information to the members.
6.8. National Rules Change
The Board noted the passing of the
Joint Central Committee motion by Annual Conference to bring about proportional
voting at all national meetings. The Board acknowledged the work undertaken by
all secretaries and in particular John Finnie during the delicate negotiations
to ensure this matter achieved an outcome satisfactory to all.
The matter is now being progressed
by the joint Central Committee who forwarded details of the required rule
change to our lawyers.
6.9 Selection and Deployment
The Board discussed the Bulletin
prepared by the Secretary and circulated to all members in relation to the
transfer policy.
The Secretary had also written to
the Chief Constable confirming the Federation’s commitment to participating in
the process.
The meeting discussed the numerous
issues surrounding the current transfer policy and agreed the Federation should
re-engage with the compulsory transfer process. The Meeting agreed that given
the Secretary Elect’s current involvement with an ongoing Employment Tribunal
that it would be inappropriate for him to become involved with any part of the
process, at this time.
7. New Business
7.1. Full Time Official’s Workload
The Board discussed at length the
significant implications of the Chief Constable’s decision not to continue
funding the post of full-time Assistant Secretary, following the retiral of the
incumbent Secretary.
The Secretary elect advised the
meeting that the removal of the second full time post did not lead to an
automatic reduction in the level of demand and expectation placed on the
Federation Office from both the Force and membership as a whole and that it was
simply not possible to deliver on all the current expectations with one full
time official. The Secretary elect also advised that in order to meet many of
the statutorily imposed time restrictions on many of the items with which he
was dealing, that he was regularly and routinely working in excess of 12-hour
days.
The meeting agreed the importance
of pro-activity on the part of representatives but acknowledged there were
significant elements of work which demanded the knowledge of full-time
officials to deal with effectively.
The meeting acknowledged the
significant contribution of the retiring Secretary and recognised his departure
would be more keenly felt following the Chief Constables decision.
Representatives expressed concern
that the Chief Constable elected not to evidence the reasoning for his decision
and felt the reason for his decision was to ‘rein the federation back into
line’ following a particularly difficult period of relations with the Force.
The meeting discussed the historic
position in relation to the establishing the Assistant Secretary’s post on a
full time basis and it was recognised that all Area Commands had initially
funded this post through the Devolved Resource Management model and that they
were now seeing no material benefit as the funding had been redirected to the
Inverness Area Command. It was further felt that the remaining Area Commands
could be ‘paying twice’ as a result of their incumbent Representatives having
to attend to duties previously undertaken by the full time Assistant Secretary.
The meeting discussed a variety of
options to reduce the burden of work on the Secretary elect and agreed;
·
A more detailed
business case including a work and cost benefit analysis be prepared for future
negotiations with the Chief Constable.
·
Attendance at
Force Meetings should be divided between representatives, whose attendance
should only be in the role of Federation Representative.
·
Representatives
should highlight to their Service Unit Managers that any additional
abstractions to deal with Federation Business is necessary, following the Chief
Constable’s decision.
·
Any interim
arrangements could be nothing more than a ‘sticking plaster’ solution.
·
Area commanders
to be advised of the interim arrangements.
7.2. Special Constabulary
The Secretary elect advised the
board of early discussions regarding allowing members of the Special
Constabulary to contribute to the Voluntary Fund.
The Meeting agreed that the
Secretary elect prepare a response, which would be circulated prior to sending
to the General Secretary, on the Board’s behalf.
7.3. Shift Patterns
Archie Henderson asked for confirmation of the Joint Branch Board’s
position on Variable Shift Arrangements.
The Secretary elect confirmed that
the Board was always supportive of any Members desire to work an alternative
work pattern provided that pattern did not offend the principals of Police
Regulations and the Working Time Regulations.
The meeting agreed that Management
support, Chief Constable’s support and Federation Support were all required
before any alternative shift pattern could be progressed and that the three
were not always forthcoming.
7.4. Distant Islands Allowance
Given the lateness of the hour
coupled with the fact that Angus MacLeod, who wished to speak on this subject
had earlier left the meeting, Neil MacDonald sought the Boards leave to
withdraw this item from the agenda for discussion at the next JBB meeting.
The meeting agreed.
7.5. Media Strategy
The meeting agreed that the
Chairman should be used for media comments when available.
8. Any Other Competent Business
8.1 Minimum Safe Staffing Levels
Archie Henderson queried the position
in relation to the inclusion of Special Constables in Minimum Safe Staffing
Levels as had been recently suggested for the Inverness Area Command
The meeting agreed that Special
Constables should not be included in this figure.
The meeting agreed that as this
appeared to be a local matter; local Representatives should seek an early
meeting with the Area Commander to discuss this and any other wider issues.
9. Secretary’s Correspondence
The Secretary elect advised that
correspondence had been received from a former member thanking him for his
assistance over several protracted and on occasion difficult matters.
Correspondence has been received
thanking the Secretary Elect in his efforts to ensure a member be retained on
full pay.
Jim Neil, Inspecting Ranks
representative for Ross, Cromarty & Skye, has written to the Secretary
intimating his resignation from the Joint Branch Board.
A letter of thanks has been
received from a former member offering his thanks in relation to an insurance
claim which he would otherwise not have pursued.
The NPCTC have published a bulletin
which has been received in hard copy. The meeting agreed the merit in
circulation of this document electronically.
10. Time and Date of Next Meeting
The next Meeting with be the third
quarterly meeting and take place at 10 am on Wednesday 6th September
2006 in the Marriott Hotel, Kingsmills Road, Inverness.
11. Closure of Meeting
In closing the Meeting the Chairman
thanked everyone for their contributions during what had been a lengthy and
interesting Meeting.
The Chairman then wished everyone a
safe journey home and was in turn himself thanked in the customary manner.
R Alan Drummond Calum
A Steele
Chairman Secretary
(elect)
