Equality and Diversity

What we believe:

• The Police Federation is fully committed to the elimination of unfair discrimination and the promotion of equality and diversity for all, in its own practices and arrangements and throughout the Police Service in England and Wales.

 

• We recognise that there are barriers to recruitment and progression experienced by officers from all sections of the community and that the Police Service must value the differences that each individual brings to the organisation and develop practices that enable all officers to fulfil their potential, free of harassment and discrimination.

 

• We have set out our commitment to developing equality and diversity within the Police Federation by adopting a voluntary Diversity Equality Scheme.

 

• Officers should receive the same pay and benefits for like work and work of equal value. We are concerned at the size of the gender pay gap in the service and are working to ensure that pay practices value the work of all officers.  We have worked to ensure equal pensions rights are available to married, unmarried and registered partners, whether of the same or opposite sex.

 

• The quality and quantity of training officers receive on issues of equality and diversity is unsatisfactory. This must change to ensure that all officers are confident dealing with matters of equality and diversity.

 

What we have done: 
 

• We monitor our own practices and arrangements and strive to represent all officers in the service. We are currently running a positive action campaign, “Making a Difference” to encourage people from under represented groups to become representatives. We use ‘positive action’ to reserve seats for women representatives at all levels. 

 

• We work with officers to resolve their complaints in the workplace. There are no winners in employment tribunals and the service needs to establish more effective ways of learning the lessons when things have gone wrong.

 

• We train and produce handbooks for representatives dealing with equality and diversity, family leave and flexible working, together with leaflets on a range of issues including harassment and bullying, disability, maternity and part time remuneration.

 

• The Police Federation was instrumental in the successful campaign to get a more realistic job related recruit fitness test, and is working to ensure that fitness tests for specialist posts do not discriminate against women in the service. We are working to achieve a holistic approach to the health and fitness of officers throughout their careers.

 

• We are working to improve the extent of flexible working options operated in the service. This will allow forces to retain valuable men and women who might otherwise be lost to the service, and help them to better manage their work and family lives.

 
 

 

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