SCOTTISH
POLICE FEDERATION
NORTHERN BRANCH
Minutes of the 3rd Quarterly Meeting held
within The Marriott Hotel, Kingsmills Road, Inverness on Wednesday 6th
August 2006.
Note: The
minute (below) follows the agenda order but is not indicative of the order in
which some of the items of business were discussed.
1. Members Present
Julie Connor
John Crawford
D Craig Dale
Graeme Ednie - Assistant Secretary
Simon Fraser
Hamish Grace – Vice Chairman
George MacDonald – part of meeting
Neil MacDonald – part of meeting
Linsey MacKintosh
Angus MacLeod – part of meeting
David Miller – part of meeting
Calum Steele - Secretary
Also in attendance: Claire Kerr – JBB Administrator
Mairi MacGregor – JBB
Administrator
Norman MacKenzie –
Force Welfare Officer
2. Apologies
Archie Henderson – Staff Shortages
Ali McBean – Out of Force
Donnie Ross – Out of Force
3. Opening of Meeting
In the absence of a Chairman, the
Vice Chairman opened the meeting by welcoming everyone present. He extended a
warm welcome to Norman Mackenzie who was in attendance at his first ever Joint
Branch Board meeting since his arrival in Northern.
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.
6. Election of Chairman
The Vice Chairman advised the
meeting that Alan Drummond had advised the Secretary of his resignation from
the Board effect of 31st August 2006. The Board agreed the minute
should reflect their appreciation to Alan for his stewardship in recent years
and wished him all the best in the future.
The Vice Chairman thereafter called
for nominations for the role of Chairman to the Joint Branch Board.
David Miller was proposed by Angus Macleod, seconded by Neil MacDonald; there being no further nominations David was duly elected as Chairman.
David thanked the Board for their
support and thereafter chaired the Meeting.
7. Matters Arising
7.1. Legal Advice / Conduct
The Secretary advised the Board
that legal advice has been obtained in relation to the matter raised at the
previous meeting, surrounding a potential further anomaly with the pay of
Inspecting Ranks, which has indicted that there is no impact on Scottish
arrangements as all affected officers should have been identified within the
examination of the original issue.
The Deputy General Secretary has
advised that the ongoing issue of the Disclosure of Information relative to
Police Officers previous convictions and outstanding pending cases’ remains
unresolved with no progress being made with the Information Commissioner. The
General Secretary and Deputy General Secretary have held a meeting with the
Crown and there are moves to allow the COPF service access to the information
via terminals in their own offices.
The Secretary advised the board
that a legal opinion had been secured by another Joint Branch Board in relation
to the question of Annual Leave being taken in hours.
The Secretary gave a summary of
this opinion to the Board who noted this galvanised the position this board has
consistently taken on this issue, i.e. that Annual leave should be calculated
in days.
The Secretary updated the meeting
of the work being undertaken in preparing new conduct regulations and new
regulations covering Police Appeals Tribunals.
The meeting thereafter discussed
the updates provided the Secretary and agreed there was little merit in waiting
for the quarterly meetings of the Branch Board to be advised of these important
ongoing issues.
The meeting further discussed the
possibility of being advised, on an ongoing basis, as to the number, general
nature and current status of all ongoing legal cases, originating locally.
The Secretary advised that for very
specific reasons he would be unable to provide anything other than a general
overview of this information and undertook to provide the requested information
at the next meeting.
7.2. 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 2006/05 Adoption Leave
b. Removal Allowance
The meeting agreed that this matter
now appeared to be progressing relatively smoothly as a result of guidance
prepared and a greater emphasis being place on communication regarding
expenditure in advance of transfer.
Annual Conference Motion –
Relocation Package
The Secretary advised the meeting
that our General Secretary has commenced a Scotland wide information gathering
exercise in order to be in the best position possible to progress this issue.
The meeting agreed the importance of any early information on progress
regarding this subject being made available to the wider Membership, as this was
an issue which had the potential to affect every officer in the Force.
The meeting discussed the
importance of ensuring this issue was not seen as one which impacted only on
Northern Constabulary Officers.
c. Pensions
The Secretary advised the meeting
that the regulations governing the NPPS were still being drawn up. As a
consequence a commentary in relation to the NPPS was still to be produced. This
important document is vital to providing a lay persons understanding of many of
the complex issues that prevail in pensions issues.
The Meeting agreed that after an
initial flurry of inquiries into the implications of the NPPS, relatively few
difficulties appear to have arisen.
The Secretary sought the Boards
assistance in ensuring the information previously circulated, in relation to
notification of an intention to commute, was made known to all members. The
meeting agreed to undertake this course of action.
The meeting discussed the very
positive feedback that had been received from Members when this information was
disseminated to them. Whilst Northern Constabulary advises all officers of the
requirement to indicate an intention to commute in advance of retiral, the
potential for officers subject to ill health retirals to inadvertently fall
foul of the new provisions, was one the Board was alert to.
The Meeting agreed to contact all
officers subject to the ill health retiral process in order to highlight this
issue.
d. Vetting
The Secretary advised that work on
this issue was continuing at a National Level and the meeting agreed the
importance of a united approach to this issue.
Our national Chairman sits on the
National Group examining vetting and has advised that discussions surrounding
the following have taken place;
Recruitment Vetting – the appropriateness
of a list of offences which would bar recruits to the police. (considering the
inclusion of three or more endorseable motoring convictions), as yet no
decision had been taken over whether drink drive convictions would form part of
this list.
Checking of all potential recruits’
fingerprints and DNA against all outstanding crime scene samples.
Foreign Nationals – application of
a 3 year residency criteria prior to consideration to police. Thereafter the
standard vetting checks could take place.
Additional Checks on all U.K.
citizens who had been out of the country for over 12 months.
e. Official Side’s proposals
A sixth update is available on the
national web site.
This matter was discussed at length
by the Board who expressed anger at the Official Side’s failure, for the first
time in 27 years, to honour the longstanding arrangements for pay increases.
The Board noted that this failure had followed a commitment earlier this year,
from the Official Side, to abide by all current arrangements whilst
negotiations were ongoing.
Following a failure to agree at
conciliation, our pay claim will now progress to arbitration, once terms of
reference have been agreed. The Secretary reminded the meeting that the ruling
of the arbitrator was binding on both sides. There is currently little prospect
of any pay settlement being in place by November.
The meeting was dismayed that our
legitimate pay claim had been side tracked by the Official Side who continue to
endeavour to seek an eroding of not only to Police Officer’s pay and conditions
but also apparently to the Office of Constable itself.
The Board continued to be assured
that the matter continues to receive the appropriate attention at a National
Level.
The meeting agreed to keep the
membership fully appraised about the ongoing situation.
f. Regulatory Non Compliance
Following the last meeting the
Secretary advised that he had met with the Head of Operations in relation the
issues below;
·
Substantive
Sergeants who had yet to undertake supervisory skills 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 Secretary advised the Board
that he had received a letter from the Head of Operations indicating that the
Force was content at both the number and geographic spread of officers trained
in the various roles of Child Protection. The meeting was assured that the
issue would continue to receive the appropriate attention.
Supervisory skills training is
continuing with identified substantive Sergeants selected to undertake this
training until the backlog has been cleared.
The Secretary was advised that
custody officer training had been undertaken by all officers in the Inverness
area expected to carry out custody officer duties. The situation in relation to
custody officer training for the remainder of the force continues to receive
consideration.
7.3.
Health
& Safety
a. Uniforms/Officer Safety Equipment
The Assistant Secretary updated the
meeting on the work of the Uniform Working Group which had met on a number of
occasions recently. He advised that the remit of the group was fairly narrow
and that some items were presented as being ‘non-negotiable’ e.g. the retention
of the ‘traditional’ white shirt as the base layer.
The Assistant Secretary advised
that he and the Secretary had met with an individual who had involvement in the
development of the uniform and its layering principle and updated the meeting
of their discussions.
The Meeting thanked the Assistant
Secretary for this valuable update and discussed the numerous points raised.
The Secretary advised that concerns
were now being expressed from the majority of Scottish Forces over various
aspects of the clothing from quality to warmth and waterproofing issues.
David Dick continues to represent
the Scottish Police Federation on the National Working Group examining the new
uniform. He has advised of an identified problem with the wicking garment insofar
as the wicking capabilities diminish after washing.
The difficulties with the uniform
are to be further discussed at the next JBB Secretary’s meeting and thereafter
at the Joint Central Committee.
The Secretary advised the meeting
that he had received a reply from the Chief Constable in relation to the
maintaining a white shirt and tie as the base layer to the new uniform. The
meeting, whilst disappointed the Chief Constable was to maintain white shirt
and tie meantime, were heartened that the Chief Constable had indicated the
Uniforms Working Group would continually review all items of uniform.
b. Accidents, Injuries and Near Misses
The Secretary advised having held
discussions with the Head of Operations in relation to the suggested input at
Operational Commanders Meetings. The Head of Ops agreed there was considerable
merit in this suggestion and has invited the Secretary to the next physical
meeting of Operational Commander at HQ.
The Secretary and the Head of Ops
discussed the practicality of committing to weekly meetings and agreed an ‘as
and when’ approach would best suit.
The apparent lack of any Health
& Safety items during Force meetings is recognised and work continues to re
invigorate this process.
At this point the meetings
attention was drawn to an incident in which an officer appeared to suffer burns
after exposure to CS Spray. The meeting was shown pictures of the injuries
sustained. The board wished their good wishes be passed to the officer and felt
that the issue was of such concern as to merit investigation by a Safety
Representative. The Assistant Secretary was duly nominated by the board to
undertake this work.
The meeting discussed the different
practices that occur in various areas of the Force and agreed that whilst the
introduction of Single Points of Contact (SPOC) for Health and Safety issues
was a welcome step on the Forces part to deal with some aspects of Health and
Safety, a clear demarcation needs to be maintained between the roles and
responsibilities of SPOC’s, Federation Representatives and Federation Health
& Safety Representatives, in order to avoid any conflict of interest.
c. Airwaves
The Secretary advised the meeting
that our National Chairman has written to all Chief Constables within the past
few weeks seeking their commitment in ensuring all police officers in Scotland
are afforded the opportunity to undergo the free health checks through the
Imperial College, London.
The responses to these letters,
locally and nationally, are as yet unknown but will be reported to the JBB
Secretary’s and JCC within the next few days.
The Secretary undertook to
circulate this information to Representatives once provided.
d. UK Health and Safety Inspection
The Secretary advised that this
year’s national health and safety inspections had been undertaken with the
assistance of most representatives. The information gathered has still to be analysed
and will be discussed at the national Health & Safety Forum in October.
The Meeting noted the considerable
efforts of Julie Connor during the national inspection programme as she had
managed to inspect almost all vehicles in her area.
The Secretary advised the meeting
that he and the other trained safety representatives were due to undertake
refresher training in Aberdeen later this month. This training is being hosted
by Grampian JBB and the meeting wished the minute reflect the gratitude of the
Board for their generous invitation to participate. At the end of this
refresher training three of the Board’s safety representatives would be IOSH
(INSTITUTION OF OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH) accredited.
The Secretary is continuing to
examine the option of running an exclusive H&S training course for
untrained Board members and once its viability is established will approach the
Chief Constable to establish whether the Force would supply the venue.
e. CBRN
Following the recent increase in
the terrorist threat the Board recognised this would become a more pressing
issue than it had previously been.
The meeting noted that CBRN training
had recommenced within the Force and discussed some of the likely issues.
The meeting agreed the Secretary
should write to the Head of Ops with a view to seeking early involvement in
this process.
7.4. Joint Branch Board
Constitution
The Secretary elect advised the
meeting that the draft constitution had been forwarded to lawyers for scrutiny.
A detailed report has been received
advising that there were elements throughout the entire constitution that would
require to be revisited in order to ensure there was no potential for conflict
with the national rules, which were currently being re-examined following this
year’s Annual Conference motion.
The proposed amendments in relation
to non representation did not conflict and as such could be incorporated into
our current constitution.
The Secretary was pleased to report
to the Board that many of the elements contained within the drafted
constitution had been deemed worthy of bringing to the attention of our
National Office for consideration of inclusion in the redrafted national rules.
The Secretary advised the Board
that he has held further meetings with our Web Provider in relation to this
issue and is content that the systems are in place to deal with our elections
securely and efficiently. The technology developed by our Web Provider has the
potential to be used in a greater number of roles, other than elections, and
has attracted considerable interest and support from our National Office.
The Secretary proposed that the
following amendments to the constitution as discussed be adopted;
Insert new rule 3.5
In the event of no Candidate being
received from any electoral area not less than twenty-four days before the
date set for the election, a candidate from out with that electoral area may be
nominated. In such an event the nomination must be approved by the Candidate
AND be proposed and seconded by a Member, of the same rank, within that
electoral area. Such a nomination must reach the Presiding officer not less
than seventeen days before the date set for the election.
Replace rule 3.7 with
The electoral area in which Members
are eligible to vote shall be determined by the station in which that member
served on the first (1st) day of the month during which the
electoral process commenced.
Insert new rule 3.8
All voting will take place by means
of secure electronic ballot on the web site of the Scottish Police Federation –
Northern Branch.
Insert new rule 3.9
The
Presiding Officer will supply all eligible Members with a unique username and
password and details of how to vote. Each voter will be entitled to vote for
one, or up to two, candidates depending on the electoral area.
Re number other rules accordingly.
This was seconded by the Assistant
Secretary and unanimously supported by the Board
The Meeting agreed the importance
of running elections to fill all the outstanding vacancies on the Joint Branch
Board and agreed the new constitution provided the best opportunity to deal
effectively with the issue on non representation in areas of the Force.
The Secretary agreed to advise the
Presiding Officer to instigate elections as soon as reasonably practicable.
7.5. Grievance Procedure
/Harassment & Bullying Policy
The Board was reminded as to the
history surrounding this agenda item and that it related to a motion presented
to and passed at Annual Conference several years earlier, originating from this
Board.
The meeting expressed anger at the
ludicrous delay at the hands of ACPO(S) in progressing this issue, which is of
the utmost concern to members. Despite several letters from our national office
a long awaited report is still awaited. Whilst acknowledging recent delays are
directly attributable to ill health, the meeting agreed strong representation
needs to be made to ensure the issue is progressed.
7.6. Group Insurances
The Assistant Secretary has
prepared a bulletin to remind Members 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).
This bulletin is available at www.northernpolicefederation.com
and is to be forwarded to Representatives for dissemination to the wider
membership.
7.7. National Rules Change
The proposed amendments to the
National Rules continue to be subject of legal scrutiny.
A considerable amount of work has
already been undertaken and needs to be undertaken to ensure the Rules remain
‘future proof’.
The Secretary advised the meeting
that the changes to the National Rules will impact on the Rules of this Board.
The meeting discussed the
significant progress that was being made on this issue which was in no small
part due to the speech of the Assistant Secretary at Annual Conference.
7.8. Full Time Official’s
Workload
The Secretary advised that many of
the processes put in place since the last meeting have had an impact in
reducing some of the demand previously place on the office.
Despite this the workload in the
office continues at unprecedented levels resulting in lengthy working hours and
some considerable slippage of work previously undertaken.
The Assistant Secretary was also
regularly in the office on his rest days and immediately prior to or following his
shift.
The administrators confirmed that
the volume of work and demand was beyond that previously experienced even when
two full time officials worked in the JBB office.
The Board discussed the
re-established JBB executive meetings and acknowledged this was a welcome step.
The Board discussed the importance
of ensuring local members contact local representatives in the first instance
and whenever possible, local resolutions should be sought.
The Board discussed at length the
evidence required prior to re-approaching the Chief Constable for further
discussions on the full time Assistant Secretary’s position.
7.9. Special Constabulary
Owing to the departure of several Board Members to meet
pre arranged travel arrangements, resulting in the meeting being unable to
constitute a quorum, this matter could not be discussed and was carried over to
the next meeting.
8. New Business
8.1. Distant
Islands Allowance
Neil MacDonald highlighted the apparent inequality of application
that prevailed in the administration of the Distant Island Arrangements and
felt the Board should press for a re-examination of the current procedures.
A lengthy debate ensued over the
current arrangements and following discussion the meeting agreed Neil McDonald,
Angus MacLeod, David Miller and the Secretary should form a small working group
to make recommendations. The Meeting agreed the Secretary should write to all
Island based Area Commanders inviting their contributions.
8.2. Motions
Owing to the departure of several
Board Members to meet pre arranged travel arrangements, resulting in the
meeting being unable to constitute a quorum, this matter could not be discussed
and was carried over to the next meeting.
8.3. Vauxhall Vehicle Scheme
Owing to the departure of several Board
Members to meet pre arranged travel arrangements, resulting in the meeting
being unable to constitute a quorum, this matter could not be discussed and was
carried over to the next meeting.
8.4. Federation Magazine
Owing to the departure of several Board
Members to meet pre arranged travel arrangements, resulting in the meeting
being unable to constitute a quorum, this matter could not be discussed and was
carried over to the next meeting.
8.5. Northern Police Convalescent
& Treatment Centre
Owing to the departure of several
Board Members to meet pre arranged travel arrangements, resulting in the
meeting being unable to constitute a quorum, this matter could not be discussed
and was carried over to the next meeting.
8.6. Ill Health Arrangements
The Secretary advised the meeting
of the position of several officers who currently find themselves either
unavailable for work or on some kind of restricted duties owing to ill health
and/or disability, such officers now finding themselves the unwelcome subject of
the ill-health retiral process.
The Meeting discussed the
Disability Discrimination Act and the protection this piece of legislation
should provide officers so affected.
The Board discussed at length the
apparent lack of compassion that exists at a Force level and apparent lack of
consideration for the provisions of the DDA, which calls for reasonable
adjustments to enable disabled ‘employees’ to continue in their current role
(in the first instance). The Board agreed there was a significant difference
between an operational police role and a confrontational police role.
The meeting noted that specific risk
assessments and communication with theses officers regarding reasonable
adjustments was almost non-existent.
The Board discussed and expressed
extreme concern that senior police officers charged with resolving grievances
appeared unable to take any significant decisions without the express consent
of the Deputy Director of Human Resources.
The Meeting agreed this was the
single most welfare issue that existed in the force at this time and were
concerned that rather than striving to keep the skills of disabled officers,
like every other Scottish Force, Northern Constabulary appeared to be out of
step by forcing their retirals.
The Meeting agreed the Secretary
should communicate these concerns to the Force.
9. Any Other Competent Business
Owing to the departure of several
Board Members to meet pre arranged travel arrangements, resulting in the
meeting being unable to constitute a quorum, this matter could not be discussed
and was carried over to the next meeting.
10. Secretary’s Correspondence
Owing to the departure of several
Board Members to meet pre arranged travel arrangements, resulting in the
meeting being unable to constitute a quorum, this matter could not be discussed
and was carried over to the next meeting.
11. Time and Date of Next Meeting
The next Meeting with be the fourth
quarterly meeting and take place at 10 am on Wednesday 6th and
Thursday 7th December 2006 in the Marriott Hotel, Kingsmills Road,
Inverness.
12. Closure of Meeting
Following the departure of the
Chairman and several other Board Members to meet pre arranged travel
arrangements; the meeting had insufficient numbers to reach a quorum. The
Vice-Chairman thereafter closed the Meeting and thanked everyone for their
contributions during what had been a lengthy and interesting Meeting.
The Vice - Chairman then wished
everyone a safe journey home and was in turn himself thanked in the customary
manner.
David Miller Calum
A Steele
Chairman Secretary
