Chairman: new Home Secretary won’t bring fundamental change

THE police service is starting from a “low baseline” with its expectations of the new Home Secretary, but should not expect huge changes from the government.

That is the view of Northumbria Police Federation Chairman Jim Gray, following Sajid Javid’s first speech to the Police Federation of England and Wales’ Annual Conference.

He said: “To be fair, we’re starting from a very low baseline in terms of expectations. Mr Javid said some positive words around things that actually mean something to us, for example with spit guards. That was positive.

“It’s definitely a turn in the right direction in terms of relationships between Federation and the Home Office, and in particular with the Home Secretary.

“However, if I’m honest, I’m unsure what changes we will see in the long run. I’m sure there will be some tinkering round the edges but not fundamental change in the way that we want.

“However, as always, we should give the minister a chance. We should see what he brings to the table and we should see how he responds when he’s armed with a better awareness of the world he’s entered.”

Jim also spoke about his lack of optimism in regard to receiving any more funding for Policing in the near future.

He said: “Police Minister Nick Hurd keeps referring to more money for policing. The key question is, is some of that money earmarked for the IOPC, because that’s part of the police system?

“We are still in a very poor place compared to where we were in the past in terms of funding, and I don’t see a massive change in terms of funding for us currently, or in the horizon. I’m yet to feel any positivity around that.”