Presented by broadcaster Ian Collins, our inaugural episode features National Chair John Apter and National Secretary Alex Duncan talking about the hot topics of the moment as well as their first six months in their roles and the future of the Fed.
Mr Apter said: “The Federation strives to engage with members through a variety of channels to keep them informed and involved with our work and podcasting is a growing trend. We have many channels of communication but a podcast allows us to verbally explain what we are doing to support our members and we hope they listen and subscribe. A big thank you goes to those members who have submitted questions to us so far via Twitter, a number of them have been included.”
Pensions
The episode starts with pensions as the hottest topic of the moment with the Court of Appeal recently ruling that the introduction of transitional protections to judges’ and firefighters’ pensions was not a proportionate means to achieving a legitimate aim. Mr Duncan said: “This is a complicated subject and not as straightforward as some think. We’ve had lots of questions on pensions – why did the Federation not challenge the pension changes like the Fire Brigades Union? Will you admit to making a mistake on not challenging?
“Let me be clear, the introduction of a new scheme – the CARE scheme – was not challengeable and was perfectly lawful. The Federation did everything they could at the time. The only choice was to move everyone over to the new CARE scheme or provide some benefit to more than half of members in the form of transitional arrangements.”
First few months in the job
Next the pair speak about the first few months in their roles, Mr Apter being elected by members in August last year and Mr Duncan being selected by the National Board in October. In this time the Federation has achieved legislative change in respect to assaults on police and other emergency workers and is working on improving the law to better protect police drivers from unfair prosecution for doing their job.
The current pay challenge is discussed as well as employment rights, officer welfare and the Did You Know/Know Your Rights campaign.
Listening to FedCast
Listening to a podcast is a bit similar to listening to a radio programme. It is a digital audio file which can be streamed or downloaded from the internet and listened to on various digital devices and through numerous online services. A lot of people listen on their phone, but you can also listen on a desktop PC.
Listen to FedCast 1 - you should also be able to find us on your iPhone or iPad using the default Podcasts app on the homescreen, on an Android device via the Google Podcasts App as well as on Spotify, Stitcher and TuneIn.
Our next FedCast
The next FedCast episode will feature Mr Apter and Conduct Lead Phill Matthews and focus on the unnecessary length of investigations by the Independent Office for Police Conduct which cause misery for officers and what we’re doing including campaigning for a statutory time limit. It will also cover performance and weIfare and is due to be available mid/late February. If you have a question for this episode please email communications@polfed.org or tweet us at @PFEW_HQ by 4 February.
Find out more about FedCast
