Our Recent History
(1980 - 2006)
1980 – The ‘sus’ laws are repealed
The Criminal Justice Act abolished the long-established offence of ‘suspicious person loitering’, otherwise known as the ‘sus’ laws. Many groups had petitioned for their repeal, claiming that they were used by police to discriminate against members of the black community. To compensate, the Act strengthened the law on attempts to commit crime.
1981 – Mass rioting ruins police/community relations
Unprecedented mass urban rioting broke out in inner cities across the country, notably in Brixton, Toxeth, Moss Side and Handsworth, and marked a serious deterioration in community relations. The riots, and the police’s lack of adequate training and defensive equipment, led to intense lobbying by the Federation to ensure police officers were better protected.
1983 – PACE establishes a new Police Complaints Authority
The Police and Criminal Evidence Act increased stop and search powers and made the recording of all stops compulsory, introduced the mandatory recording of interviews and established a new Police Complaints Authority.
The Police Training Council announced changes to the training of new police recruits, in the light of the Scarman report into the Brixton riots, which found the situation had been exacerbated by younger, inexperienced officers
1984 – The miners’ strike leads to further deterioration in community relations
The miners’ strike saw the greatest concentration of police strength ever deployed over an extended period, and community relations continued to worsen.
The Federation secured an amendment to the PACE Act 1983, allowing police officers the right to legal representation in serious disciplinary cases.
1985 – The CPS is established
Major rioting again broke out in inner cities, culminating with the murder of PC Keith Blakelock on the Broadwater Farm estate in North London.
The Prosecution of Offences Act led to the establishment of the Crown Prosecution Service.
1986 – The Home Secretary rejects a PNB settlement on pensions
Douglas Hurd refused to uphold a PNB decision to improve widows’ pensions. The decision not to award widows one-third of their late husbands’ pensions, replacing the fixed sum they currently received, was the first time the Home Secretary refused to ratify a freely negotiated PNB settlement.
1987 – Automatic guns are banned
Partly in response to the Hungerford Massacre, where 14 people, including a police officer, were murdered, the possession of automatic and semi-automatic weapons was banned by Parliament.
1989 – The rent allowance is replaced
The rent allowance was abolished for new recruits, and they instead received a new housing allowance worth two-thirds of its predecessor.
Michael Shersby MP replaced Eldon Griffiths as Parliamentary Adviser.
1991 – The Police Federation updates the ‘Nine Points of the Law’
The Police Federation published The Policing Agenda, supported by the Scottish and Northern Irish Federations. It looked at key areas affecting the police, such as manpower and resources, the criminal justice system and police powers and duties. It also set out an updated version of Sir Robert Peel’s ‘Nine Points of the Law’, including a call for a Royal Commission on Policing.
<bold>1992 – Ken Clarke announces ‘independent’ inquiry into police pay
The Home Secretary Kenneth Clarke announced an inquiry into pay and conditions in his speech at the Federation’s Annual Conference. It was to be a root and branch review of the entire pay structure, and it planned to sweep away the principles of a national rate of pay and the uniformity of pay between officers of the same rank and length of service.
The staff associations were not involved with the appointment to the Inquiry, as they had been with Edmund-Davies, and they feared the worse. Sir Patrick Sheehy, head of British American Tobacco, was chosen to lead the inquiry.
1993 – The Federation rejects the Sheehy Report, and the Government backs down
The Sheehy Report made clear that the Inquiry did not consider policing to be a unique occupation, and recommended a reduction of police numbers, a £2,000 cut to the constable’s starting pay, the abolition of the housing allowance and a reduced rank structure. New recruits were to join on a fixed 10 year contract, renewable at the chief officer’s discretion for five year periods, and they would only be eligible to a full pension after 40 years’ service. It also abolished uniform incremental scales in favour of a matrix based on an evaluation of the roles, responsibilities and performance of individual officers. Future pay increases would be based on the pay of non-manual private sector workers, and one-third of each increase would be performance-related.
The Federation immediately rejected the report, and launched a massive ‘Say No to Sheehy’ campaign, starting with an open meeting in Wembley Arena attended by 23,000 off-duty officers. Michael Howard, who had recently replaced Ken Clarke, rejected the vast majority of Sheehy, but he did abolish the housing allowance, and linked future pay increases on an index of non-manual private sector pay settlements.
1995 – Police and Magistrates’ Court Act changes the structure of the police authorities
The Police and Magistrates’ Court Act came into effect, which changed the way the police authorities were structured, allowed for the election of independent members and made chief constables responsible for their own budgets.
1996 – First Bravery Awards
The first Police Bravery Awards were given, and Kevin Balcombe of West Mercia was the first national winner.
Following the Dunblane Massacre, the Federation campaigned, with partial success, for a total ban on handguns.
1998 – The murder of Stephen Lawrence turns a spotlight on the police
The murder of Stephen Lawrence in south London brought the issue of ‘institutionalised racism’ in the Metropolitan Police Service in particular (and the service as a whole) into the media spotlight. The subsequent Inquiry turned from the examination of a murder investigation into a ‘trial’ of the entire service.
1999 – Far-reaching changes to the Conditions of Service
Changes to the Conditions of Service proposed by the Official Side, including the abolition of the plain clothes allowance, the detectives’ expenses allowance and the gratuity for searching and fingerprinting dead bodies, went to the PAT after Staff Side claimed the marginal savings made would be far outweighed by the negative effects on operational efficiency, goodwill, morale and service delivery. Much of the Staff Side’s demands were upheld, although the detectives’ expenses allowance was ended, and most of proposed changes to the dog handlers’ allowance were granted.
New disciplinary measures, aimed at eradicating corruption from the service, came into force after lengthy negotiations with ACPO and the Home Office. The criminal standard of proof in disciplinary hearings was replaced by the balance of probabilities, and a ‘fast-track’ procedure was introduced for those charged with the most serious offences, and for those whose guilt was thought to be ‘self-evident’.
2000 – Extra funding released to counter serious undermanning
After years of declining police numbers, the Government announced plans to recruit an extra 9,000 officers over the next three years, after considerable lobbying by the Federation.
The London Allowance was increased to £3,327 for new recruits and those who joined the service after 1 September 2004 – i.e., those who did not receive a housing allowance.
At Conference, the Federation repeated its call for a Royal Commission into policing, noting the huge changes to the service 40 years after the Willink Report.
2001 – South-East Regional Allowances introduced
A new regional allowance of £2,000 p.a. was introduced for all new recruits and rejoiners to Thames Valley, Essex, Surrey, Kent and Hertfordshire forces, to try and prevent a drain of local recruits to the London forces. Those in Bedfordshire, Hampshire and Sussex were to receive £1,000 p.a. However, plans to roll out regional allowances designed to reflect local labour conditions across the whole of the country were rejected at tribunal.
The constitutions of the PNB and the PAB were finalised: the Full Board would now discuss pension matters, the numbers of each side were reduced to 22 and the Home Secretary was given the power, in matters of national importance, to refer issues for discussion and to set deadlines on negotiations. Government plans to merge the PNB and PAB were shelved, but they were to be closer links between the two, and they were to meet at the same venue on the same day.
The ranks of Chief Superintendent, Deputy Chief Constable and Deputy Assistant Constable, which had been abolished in 1994, were reinstated.
2002 – The Federation defeats the Government over plans for ‘reform’
David Blunkett, the new Home Secretary, unveiled a White Paper on Police Reform at the end of 2001. Whilst the Federation supported some of the planned measures, such as shorter pay scales, bonus payments for priority staff and a scheme to help those with 30 years’ or more service to remain in the force, it was staunchly opposed to proposed cuts in overtime pay, changes to duty rosters and sickness and ill-health pension arrangements, and the abolition of the plain clothes and the subsistence, lodging and refreshment allowances.
The Federation conducted a ballot on the White Paper: over 70% of the membership participated, rejected the proposals by a majority of 10:1. The vote was followed by a mass ‘Bobby Lobby’ on Parliament, when more than 10,000 off-duty officers lined the streets of Westminster in an attempt to lobby their MP. That day the Prime Minister announced that the Government was prepared to re-open negotiations with the Federation, and David Blunkett later admitted at Conference that his original stance had been wrong.
A new agreement was eventually accepted by the Federation, which included new short pay scales for the federated ranks, a new competence-related threshold payments scheme, more flexible working patterns, the rationalisation of allowances and a new scheme to encourage officers to stay on for more than 30 years.
The Police Reform Act introduced Police Community Support Officers to the streets, and announced the creation of the Independent Police Complaints Commission, to start work in 2004.
2004 – First National Memorial Day
3 October 2004 marked the first National Police Memorial Day, with a service in St Paul’s Cathedral to honour all 4,000 officers who had lost their lives in the line of duty.
The Federation bought land for a new purpose-built headquarters in Leatherhead, after the offices in Surbiton, occupied for 35 years, were no longer fit for purpose.
2005 – The Government proposes new ‘superforces’
A Home Officer report, ‘Closing the Gap’, claimed that the structure of the 43 police forces was no longer adequate, and recommended that smaller forces should be amalgamated. The plans prompted widespread anger and criticism, and the following year, after considerable wrangling and expense, John Reid, the third Home Secretary in two years, announced that there would be no changes to the existing structure.
2006 – Police pay comes under threat
At the beginning of the 2006 pay review, the Official Side announced plans to revise the pay indexing system that had stood for almost 30 years, but provided to alternative arrangement. After many months of stalemate, the Staff Side referred their 3% claim, based on the index, to arbitration, at which point Official Side tabled, without explanation, a 2.2% rise. The PAT upheld the 3%, and condemned Official Side’s failure to provide a concrete alternative. The Home Secretary had hinted that he would not uphold a decision of more than 2.2%, but immediately ratified the increase after the Federation’s vociferous ‘Fair Pay’ campaign.
The Government then announced a review of police pay by Sir Clive Booth to “consider the options for replacing the current arrangements for determining changes to police pay.”
A new 35-year pension scheme finally came into effect, after seven years’ negotiation. Contributions were set at 9.5%, and the pension was payable from 55 or deferrable until 65. The maximum pension was half of the final salary with a lump sum of 4x the pension, and it was also payable to unmarried partners as well as spouses and civil partners.
The minimum recruitment age was lowered from 18 years 6 months to 18 years.