Sixties and Seventies
(1960 - 1979)
1960 – Willink increases pay by up to 30%
The Royal Commission, led by Sir Henry Willink, recommended that the pay of a police constable should be increased by a maximum of 30%, bringing the pay of a PC with 17 years’ service to £970 a year. The recommendation was accepted by the Government, and similar increases were negotiated for ranks above constable.
1962 – Willink pay standards are protected
The first Special Course was held at the Police College, designed for promising young officers who had done well in the national promotion examinations. After completion of the course, they were to spend 12 months as sergeants before being promoted to inspector. The scheme had the general support of the Federation.
The Second Part of the Willink Report recommended new procedures for investigating complaints against the police, the amalgamation of very small police forces, the inclusion of magistrates on police authorities and the abolition of the powers of watch committees to discipline and promote police officers.
The Police Council reached agreement on a system of biennial reviews of police pay, intended to uphold the standards of pay set out by the Willink Royal Commission.
1963 – The working week is reduced
The working week was further reduced to 42 hours.
1964 – The Police Advisory Board is established
The Police Act implemented most of the recommendations of the Willink Report. It also gave statutory authority to the Police Council and updated the legislation on the Police Federation.
The Police Advisory Board was established to deal with professional matters.
The Federation clashed with the Government over its refusal to extend the lump sum payable to the widows of officers killed on duty to those who had died accidentally whilst trying to make an arrest. Callaghan initiated a cross-party debate, and the Government was forced to give way.
The right to commute part of their pensions was extended to all officers retiring on full or ill-health pensions.
1965 – The Federation opposes the abolition of capital punishment
The Federation produced a document called The Problem that claimed that existing levels of police pay were insufficient to attract and retain officers and called for substantial increases in pay, with more for undermanned forces. The Official Side rejected the claim and it was referred to arbitration.
The Federation waged a concerted, but ultimately unsuccessful, campaign to prevent the abolition of capital punishment.
1966 – The Federation supports force amalgamations
The Police Arbitration Tribunal rejected the Federation’s claim for higher pay and under-manning allowances, upholding more modest proposals by the Official Side. The new Home Secretary, Roy Jenkins, invited the Federation to join the Police Advisory Board working parties to investigate Manpower Equipment and Efficiency.
Jenkins announced a surprise scheme for amalgamations of police forces, aimed at reducing the number of separate forces from 125 to 40, supported by the Federation.
Eldon Griffiths MP replaced James Callaghan, now Chancellor of the Exchequer, as Parliamentary Consultant.
The Government announced a total pay freeze for 12 months, as part of a package designed to deal with the economic crisis. The police were partly exempted, and their pay was only frozen for six months.
1967 – The Federation clashes with former adviser
The reports of the three Police Advisory Board Working Parties on Manpower, Equipment and Efficiency were published, including recommendations for more civilianisation. Unit beat policing and ‘Panda’ schemes were endorsed as ways of making better use of scarce manpower.
A Graduate Entry Scheme was introduced to try and attract better-educated recruits to the service.
James Callaghan resigned as Chancellor following the devaluation of the pound, and became Home Secretary. He immediately angered the Federation by vetoing Police Council agreements to award under-manning allowances to several forces. He also rejected proposals to improve police uniforms because of the costs involved and overrode the recommendation of the PAB Working Party to abolish numerals on police uniforms.
1968 – POLICE magazine is launched
The 40 hour week was agreed, and was to come into effect on 1 September 1970.
The Federation replaced The Newsletter with a new monthly magazine: POLICE.
1969 – The Federation moves to Surbiton
In its golden jubilee year, the Federation bought its own headquarters in Surbiton.
The Police Federation joined the European Union of Police Association (UIPA), the first external body to which it was allowed to affiliate. The Federation left the UIPA in 1992.
1970 – The Equal Pay Act brings full pay to women officers
The Equal Pay Act required that women police officers should receive the same pay as their male colleagues. Previously they had received 90% of the men’s pay.
A crisis in police manpower forced the authorities to concede an interim pay increase, but this was not enough to stem the wastage of experienced officers, nor to attract recruits in the numbers required.
1971 – The police struggle to maintain pay standards
Inflation and manpower shortages continued to dominate police negotiations. The largest ever negotiated increase in pay at the beginning of the year had to be followed by a further interim award to maintain pay standards.
1972 – Pension scheme overhauled
A major review of the police pension scheme brought improvements to the benefits payable to widows and children and contributions went up by 7%. The three year ‘averaging’ introduced in 1949 was reduced to one year.
The Government overruled Federation objections to plans to further re-organise police forces to make boundaries coincide with the new local government districts to be set up in 1974.
1973 – The Federation supports London pay claims
The JCC, after years of opposition to the claims for the London Forces, agreed to support a claim for a £500 a year non-pensionable allowance. An allowance of £204 was agreed, following the Report of the Government’s Pay Board the following year.
1974 – The Police Council again investigates pay scales
The Police Council set up a joint working party to conduct a complete examination of police pay.
The police service was reorganised into 43 forces in England and Wales, with six provincial metropolitan forces.
1975 – Policewomen to compete equally with men
Following the Joint Report of the Police Council Working Party, there was a very substantial increase in police pay.
The Sex Discrimination Act required the police to abolish separate establishments, departments and career structures for women and insisted that they be fully integrated into the Service. For the first time, male and female officers competed on equal terms for entry, promotion and transfers, and over the next few years, the number of women officers doubled.
1976 – The Federation walks out of the Police Council
Following a dispute over police pay, the Police Federation of England and Wales and the Northern Ireland Police Federation walked out of the Police Council.
The Home Secretary rejected a plea from the Federation for direct negotiations on pay. Instead he offered an independent inquiry into representative organisations and negotiating machinery for the police.
Branch boards began to ballot their members on the question of the right to strike. All forces which held ballots recorded majorities in favour of this right.
The Police Complaints Act set up an independent Police Complaints Board to oversee the public’s grievances.
1977 – The Government is forced to back down
The Home Secretary used his powers to impose a 5% increase in police pay. At Conference, he was received by the delegates in total silence, as part of a planned demonstration of no confidence in the Government. Conference decided to press for the Federation to become a ‘free association’ and for the police to have the right to strike. The Federation launched a public relations campaign in favour of a substantial pay increase, which attracted widespread public support.
Addressing the annual meeting of the Metropolitan Branch Boards, the Home Secretary was shouted down by a packed audience of angry police officers. Soon afterwards he announced that Lord Edmund-Davies would head an independent inquiry into police pay and that the Government would accept its findings.
1978 – Edmund-Davies Report leads to large pay increase
The Edmund-Davies Report announced a substantial increase in police pay, which included an unspecified amount to take account of the absence of the right to strike. The report also proposed linking future pay rises to an index of all non-manual workers. The Government accepted the findings, but insisted on staging the pay increases over two years.
The Committee also proposed replacing the Police Council with a Police Negotiating Board with an independent chairman and secretariat, and with the inclusion of magistrates on the official side. Edmund-Davies further recommended that each force (except the Metropolitan) should set up Joint Negotiating and Consultative Committees consisting of management and police staff associations, together with liaison committees representing the staff associations and the police authority
At a Special Conference, the Federation accepted the Edmund-Davies Report and abandoned the policy of seeking ‘free association’ and the right to strike.
1979 – Edmund-Davies is implemented in full
Following the Conservative victory in the General Election, the new Government immediately implemented the Edmund-Davies award in full, and pledged itself to honouring the pay standards in the future.