Chairs Update Spring 2025

1 May 2025

Dear Colleagues,

This has been an incredibly difficult period for both the Federation and Sussex Police. Since my last message to you, we have experienced a profound loss, and I could not speak to you now without first acknowledging it.

Our dear colleague, Ben Websdale, passed away on 16 January 2025. Ben was one of the Federation’s most dedicated and well-loved representatives always ready to support others in their time of need. He was that warm, reassuring presence in custody, often lifting the mood even in the most challenging circumstances. His loss has sent shockwaves through our policing family, and he is missed more than words can say.

Many of you are already aware, but it’s important that we speak openly: Ben died by suicide. This is heartbreaking to share, but I believe it’s vital that we talk honestly about the struggles that so many people face. The office of Constable is difficult and can take it toll on many of us.

To each and every one of you: if you are struggling, please know you are not alone. Support is available, and there are people who care deeply within the Federation and beyond. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to any of us.

STEP Campaign

A new national campaign, STEP – Suicide Trauma Education Prevention, has been launched to address the rising number of police suicides and the emotional toll on officers who regularly attend such incidents.

STEP aims to raise awareness of the daily trauma officers face and push for practical support such as mandatory TRiM (Trauma Risk Management) sessions for those who attend suicide-related calls. Sussex has Defuse instead of Trim. Between 2011 and 2024, more than 320 serving and former officers in England and Wales are believed to have taken their own lives. The campaign calls for urgent action from Chief Officers, MPs, and Police and Crime Commissioners to ensure better mental health support, while also encouraging officers to speak up and seek help—reminding everyone that it’s okay not to be okay.

Sussex Federation is now in consultation with how this campaign can support members locally and seek to improve the services and support that members receive.

Pensions Remediable Service Statement breach

The regulatory deadline for the issue of Remediable Service Statements was 31^st March 2025.

This is contained in regulation 29 of the Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Act 2022 (PSPJOA).

The Remediable Service Statement (RSS) is a document which sets out the alternative pension benefits that you are entitled to for the remedy period. The remedy period is 1st April 2015 to 31 March 2022.

The RSS will show the pension benefits for your legacy scheme (1987 or 2006 pension) and what the alternative benefits in the 2015 scheme would be. All members in scope for remedy must receive an RSS.

There has been a substantial failure to meet this deadline across the country.

This failure has been reported to the Pensions Regulator and I await a response with what impact this will have on the administrator XPS.

Remedy has caused chaos within the pension’s world, and it is going to take some considerable time to resolve. This is of no solace for members who are still waiting, but I can assure you that the Police Federation is applying pressure where it is necessary to achieve resolutions for those I urgent need of resolution. Your scheme manager Chief Constable Jo Shiner has been very helpful in this sphere and is very aware of the problems and frustrations that this topic presents.

If any members are struggling, please contact us and we will signpost you to the relevant bodies.

Vetting Regulations

Vetting has been of great concern to the Police Federation, and its use towards officer completely undermined our right to a fair and balance process.

The Di Maria ruling marks a significant development for vetting. In recent years, officers who had their vetting status revoked were often referred to Stage 3 proceedings under the Performance Regulations 2020 for gross incompetence -frequently resulting in dismissal. However, the Court has now ruled this approach unlawful. Crucially, it also found that any process involving the removal of vetting must be fair and compliant with Article 6 of the Human Rights Act, which guarantees the right to a fair trial. In this case, the Court determined that those standards had not been met, rendering the withdrawal of vetting unlawful.

The Home Office have been working on Vetting Regulations and will be presented to parliament in May 2025.

Pay and Morale Survey 2025

This year’s Pay and Morale Survey has been released slightly later than usual to coincide with the Pay Review process. The timing is intended to ensure our findings have the greatest possible impact on government, the public, and the media.

The survey contains some hard-hitting statistics figures that, unfortunately, will not come as a surprise to many of you. Here are some of the key findings:

57% of our members rated their morale as low or very low.
Only 15% of officers rated their morale as high or very high.
93% said the government’s treatment of the police negatively affected their morale; 85% said the same about the public’s treatment.
88% of respondents believe morale within the force is low or very low, a 1% decline compared to last year.
76% of officers are unhappy with their basic pay, and 65% are dissatisfied with their overall remuneration.
63% described their workload as too high.
93% reported that stress, low mood, anxiety, or other difficulties were caused or worsened by work—most commonly due to excessive workload (60%) and poor work-life balance (51%).

(National Figures)

For many of you, these statistics may reflect your own experiences within the force. These results are based on your input, and they represent a genuine picture of the challenges we've faced and continue to face.

In response, the Police Federation is launching a Pay Campaign, using this data as evidence in discussions with those determining our pay and conditions. We have raised several key issues with the National PFEW that should be considered:

Abolish the first 30 minutes of casual overtime as unpaid. This practice is being exploited, and our members are already sacrificing enough.
A review of pay for the Inspecting ranks. We’re seeing a significant decline in remuneration relative to the hours worked without appropriate compensation.
Parity in on-call allowance. Police officers performing on-call duties should receive the same allowance as police staff (£36.13), especially given the additional responsibilities we carry.

In July, the Police Remuneration Review Body will publish its recommendations, after which the Government will determine this year’s pay package. We will be meeting with the Chief’s Office, the Police and Crime Commissioner, and local MPs to ensure your voices are heard and your concerns are represented.

MP Engagement

Earlier this year I sent out a letter to all MP’s across Sussex asking for a face to face meeting. I have since met with several, however it has been challenging to secure dates with the remaining. On 11^th June, We will be hosted by Nusrat Ghani at Westminster for a roundtable event, where we will have the opportunity to engage with further MPs from across Sussex. This will allow us to raise and influence discussions on the following key topics:

Pay and working conditions
Industrial rights and collective bargaining
Officer well-being, including the concerning statistics around officer suicides
Lengthy investigations involving officers under scrutiny

So far, I have engaged with the following MPs and have conveyed the views of our members:

Nusrat Ghani – Conservative, Sussex Weald
James Macleary – Liberal Democrat, Lewes
Josh Barbarinde – Liberal Democrat, Eastbourne

A significant part of these discussions has involved educating MPs about the role and restrictions of the Office of Constable, particularly as these are often not well understood when MPs vote on matters affecting us.

We will provide an update to members following the roundtable event in June.

A/L - 12.5%

There have been reports of difficulties experienced by smaller teams due to the 12.5% leave restriction. These teams have found it particularly challenging to take time off, especially when combined with leave embargoes. It has become apparent that the 12.5% limit has been applied without a logical grouping of teams, which has added unnecessary complexity.

We are currently consulting with the Chief’s Office and the Head of Duties to reach a resolution. Our proposal includes introducing a logical grouping of teams and allowing unit Inspectors some discretion to exceed the 12.5% limit in certain circumstances.

Officers are reminded that the 12.5% restriction was introduced to reduce the need for shift changes or rest day cancellations, which previously led to significant Regulation 22 breaches. Once an agreement has been reached, we will update all members accordingly.

Independent Review (Looking forward)

Some of you may have read the Looking Back review, which was a difficult read. It outlined past failings of the PFEW, and the outcome of the employment tribunal led by Leigh Day Solicitors. The case primarily concerned pension discrimination and the inaction of the Federation at the time.

The Police Federation will soon release an independent review, which includes recommendations on how it should evolve moving forward and implement safeguards to prevent similar errors in the future. This review is a crucial step toward enabling us, as an organisation, to grow and improve for the benefit of our members.

We welcome these recommendations and look forward to sharing them with you in due course.

TenTwenty Magazine

We’re excited to announce the fourth edition of TenTwenty, which will be released to members in May. We’ve listened to your feedback and made a few changes, and we hope you find this edition both informative and helpful in keeping up to date with the work we’re doing on your behalf.

Hard copies of the magazine will be available in your local refreshment areas shortly after the electronic version is delivered.

As a reminder, this magazine is produced entirely at no cost to PFEW members.

Meet the Team – Sussex Police Federation Representatives

We are eager for our members to actively communicate with the Federation Workplace Reps to highlight any ongoing local issues. Each division’s Fed reps hold quarterly meetings with their Command Team to communicate these issues, however, if you don’t tell your local Reps about it, we won’t know about it.

To find out who your local reps are, please click here.

Kind regards,

Raff Cioffi

Chair, Sussex Police Federation