Federation agrees to become a rankless organisation

THE Police Federation of England and Wales has agreed to suspend its rank committees and become a unified organisation.

At the staff association’s annual general meeting, representatives voted to unify constables, sergeants and inspectors committees – including their budgets – immediately following conference.

After a 40 minute debate, where conference heard concerns about the future of members of staff at Leatherhead HQ, the move to become a rankless organisation was met with an ovation from the floor of conference.

Ian Hanson, chairman of Greater Manchester Police Federation, which brought the motion to conference, said it was a “historic” decision and he was “delighted that colleagues had recognised the need for change.”

He added: “The time for empires is over. We need to represent all our members with the same fantastic level of service. And the best way to do this is as a joint body, working together.”

The GMP motion stated that the rank committees “should be suspended” after conference and that their “operations, budgets and staffing” should be “unified under the Joint Central Committee (JCC)”.

The motion said that the JCC should then operate as the “interim national board” adding that the move would be “in the spirit proposed in the independent review”.

A supporting statement reads: “The need to change cannot be underestimated. This single act will show that we are committed to change and driving out self-interest and start on the journey of building a Police Federation of England and Wales that is fit for purpose.”