Commonwealth Games: Officer welfare must remain a priority

2 August 2022

Jon Nott, the West Midlands Police Federation CWG lead with officers.

The Force is undertaking the biggest operation in its history now the Commonwealth Games are underway and the Police Federation is ensuring members have round-the-clock access to its services.

The Federation is playing a major role during the massive operation with reps on hand 24/7 and welfare vans from Dyfed Powys, Hertfordshire, North Wales, Norfolk and Humberside on hand to support officers policing the games.

The West Midlands welfare van is out and about for officers who are continuing the day-to-day policing in the region with some officers undertaking 12-hour shifts to backfill the spaces of those officers and staff on Games deployment.

West Midlands Police Federation’s Commonwealth Games lead Jon Nott said the branch was working closely with the Force to ensure snags are picked up early but warned the welfare of officers had to remain a priority.

He said: “We are aware that there are huge demands being placed on officers throughout the Games. They will be working long hours without many rest days in that period. Our concerns are mainly around exhaustion and burn-out because of the long shifts so we would just encourage supervisors to give breaks throughout those shifts.”

Jon said the Police Federation had worked closely with the planning team and the logistics team at Operation Unity to iron out any teething problems leading up to last week’s opening ceremony.

“We had issues with one of our accommodation blocks, but we got this sorted, he said. “We have rectified all the issues and all officers have now been accommodated.

“We have also secured the hardship allowance for those officers who were initially displaced with the accommodation, as agreed with the Gold Commander.

“We are going to be really busy, but we want to ensure, where we can, that officers are being looked after when they are on duty.

“We are deploying to the venues and enjoying the Games, as well as getting out there, meeting the public and engaging with them.”

Jon said the Police Federation would be available to help and support members throughout the Games.

He said: “Fed reps will be available to contact through the normal channels but any officers who have Games-specific concerns will also be able to raise them with their commanders or via the logistics operations centre. 

“We will have Federation reps working closely with them to try to resolve any issues as and when they arise.”