The Police Federation Regulations 1969

PART IIORGANISATION

Membership of Police Federation and branches thereof

4.—(1)  The Police Federation for England and Wales (hereinafter referred to as “the Federation” ) shall be known as the Police Federation.

(2) There shall be a branch of the Federation for each police force, consisting of the following persons—

(a)every member of that force below the rank of superintendent, and

(b)every police cadet undergoing training with a view to becoming a member of that force,

and every such person shall be a member of the Federation.

Proceedings of branches

5.—(1) General meetings of the members of a branch of the Federation, or of such members belonging to a particular division or specialist branch of a police force, may be held in accordance with arrangements made by—

(a)a board or joint board of that branch, or

(b)a central committee or the joint central committee of the Federation.

(2) The chief officer of police of the force in whose area such a meeting is to be held shall be given at least fourteen days' notice of the date of the meeting.

(3) The arrangements referred to in paragraph (1) may provide for the attendance at a meeting of members of the police authority and of other members of the Federation but shall not permit the attendance of other persons except to such extent, and subject to such conditions, as may be determined—

(a)by the chief officer of police, where the arrangements are made under paragraph (1)(a);

(b)by the Secretary of State, where the arrangements are made under paragraph (1)(b).

(4) The arrangements referred to in paragraph (1) shall not permit the passing of a resolution at a meeting for submission to a chief officer of police, a police authority or the Secretary of State.

(5) Subject to the provisions of the arrangements referred to in paragraph (1), Schedule 2 shall have effect in relation to the proceedings of a meeting held under this Regulation.

Branch boards

6.—(1) In each branch of the Federation there shall be constituted, in accordance with this Regulation, an inspectors', a sergeants' and a constables' branch board.

(2) Where a police force consists of fewer than five divisions, the men belonging to those divisions holding the rank of inspector, sergeant or, as the case may be, constable in that force shall elect, from among their number, five members of the appropriate branch board.

(3) Where a police force consists of five or more divisions, the men belonging to each division and holding the rank of inspector, sergeant or, as the case may be, constable therein shall elect from among their number one member of the appropriate branch board.

(4) The men belonging to each specialist branch of a police force and holding the rank of inspector, sergeant or, as the case may be, constable therein shall elect from among their number one member of the appropriate branch board except that in the case of the two specialist branches of the metropolitan police force—

(a)five members shall be elected by the criminal investigation department, and

(b)three members shall be elected by the A, B and D departments.

(5) The women holding the rank of inspector, sergeant or, as the case may be, constable in a police force shall elect one member of the appropriate branch board from among their own number or, in the case of the metropolitan police force, from among the members thereof elected as delegates to the appropriate central conference in accordance with Regulation 9(4).

(6) The police cadets undergoing training with a view to becoming members of a police force may elect, from among their number, one member of the constables' branch board; but, where they do not so elect a member, they shall designate to represent their interests a member of the constables' branch board elected in accordance with the preceding provisions of this Regulation.

(7) Schedule 3 shall have effect in relation to a branch board, so however that in any election thereto—

(a)if only one person is qualified to take part therein, that person shall be deemed to be elected;

(b)if only two persons are qualified to take part therein, subject to any agreement to the contrary between them, the senior of those two shall be deemed to be elected.

(8) Annual elections shall be held for the purposes of this Regulation in such month in each year as the Secretary of State may determine at the request of the joint central committee of the Federation.

(9) A person becoming a member of a branch board shall, subject to any rules made under paragraph 5(1)(b) of Schedule 3, become such on the first day of the month following that in which annual elections are held and, subject to paragraph (10), shall remain a member until the end of the month in which annual elections are held in the next following year.

(10) A person shall cease to be a member of an inspectors', sergeants' or constables' branch board if—

(a)he ceases to hold the rank of inspector, sergeant or, as the case may be, constable;

(b)he ceases to be a member of the police force or, in the case of a police cadet, ceases to undergo training with a view to becoming such a member, or

(c)in the case of a person elected in accordance with paragraph (3) or (4), he ceases to belong to the division or specialist branch by which he was elected;

but, where a person who is the secretary of a joint branch board ceases to be a member of a branch board in accordance with sub-paragraph (c) of this paragraph, he shall, by virtue of this paragraph and without prejudice to the filling of the casual vacancy, become an additional member of that board and shall remain such for the period for which he would have remained a member but for the said sub-paragraph (c).

(11) Where a member of a branch board has been chosen as such a central officer of the Federation as is hereinafter mentioned he shall, by virtue of this paragraph and without prejudice to the filling of the casual vacancy, become an additional member of that board and, subject to paragraph (10), shall remain such until some other person is chosen for the office in question.

In this paragraph the reference to a central officer of the Federation is a reference to—

(a)a person chosen by the joint central committee as the chairman, secretary or treasurer thereof, or

(b)a person chosen by a central committee as the secretary thereof.

(12) A reference in any provision of this Regulation to a person holding a rank in a police force shall be construed as excluding a reference to such a person who is a member of the first class of the police reserve.

Proceedings of branch boards

7.—(1) Each branch board may hold quarterly meetings, each lasting one day and, with the consent of the chief officer of police, additional meetings of the branch board and meetings of committees thereof.

(2) Each branch board shall hold a quarterly meeting in the month following that in which annual elections are held, which meeting is in these Regulations referred to as the annual meeting, and where more than one meeting is held in that month the first meeting so held shall be the annual meeting.

(3) In any branch of the Federation the three or any two of the branch boards may, by agreement, sit together as a joint branch board, either generally or for a special purpose.

(4) Without prejudice to any arrangements for informal consultation, a branch board or joint branch board may make written representations to the chief officer of police or the police authority and, if it thinks fit, submit a copy thereof to the Secretary of State; and in matters of importance a deputation may be appointed to make oral representations to the chief officer of police or the police authority.

(5) Schedule 2 shall have effect in relation to the proceedings of any branch board or joint branch board.

Liaison committees

8.—(1) In each branch of the Federation there shall be constituted, by the constables' branch board and in accordance with this Regulation, a liaison committee to represent the women members of the branch holding the rank of constable and consisting of a representative from each division of the force to which such members belong elected by the members in question belonging to that division.

(2) In each branch of the Federation there may, with the consent of the chief officer of police, be constituted by the sergeants' or constables' branch board, and in accordance with this Regulation, such other liaison committees as appear to them expedient having regard to the size and organisation of the police force.

(3) Members of a branch who hold the rank of constable or are police cadets may be represented by the same or separate liaison committees constituted under paragraph (2) but members who hold the rank of sergeant may only be represented by a sergeants' liaison committee.

(4) Subject to the preceding provisions of this Regulation, a liaison committee constituted under paragraph (1) or (2) shall be constituted in accordance with arrangements made by the appropriate branch board with the approval of the chief officer of police and any such arrangements—

(a)shall provide that the committee shall consist of members of the branch who are not members of the appropriate branch board, and

(b)without prejudice to the generality of this paragraph, may apply, subject to appropriate modifications, the provisions of Schedule 2 to the proceedings of the committee and the provisions of Schedule 3 to the committee.

(5) In each year, a liaison committee constituted under paragraph (1) may hold two ordinary meetings and a liaison committee constituted under paragraph (2) may hold four ordinary meetings, each lasting half a day.

(6) A liaison committee constituted under paragraph (1) or (2) may, with the consent of the chief officer of police, hold additional meetings.

Central conferences

9.—(1) There shall be constituted, in accordance with this Regulation, an inspectors', a sergeants' and a constables' central conference.

(2) Each branch board, at their annual meeting, shall elect from among the men holding the rank of inspector, sergeant or, as the case may be, constable in the police force, such number of delegates to the appropriate central conference as is provided in Part I of Schedule 4:

Provided that a woman member of a branch board shall not vote in an election held for the purposes of this paragraph.

(3) The women members of the inspectors', sergeants' and constables' branch boards for the branches of the Federation in each of the regions mentioned in Schedule 5 shall elect, from among the women holding the rank of inspector, sergeant or, as the case may be, constable in a police force in the region in question, such number of delegates to the appropriate central conference as is provided in Part II of Schedule 4.

(4) The women holding the rank of inspector, segeant or, as the case may be, constable in the metropolitan police force or the City of London police force shall elect, from among their number, four delegates to the appropriate central conference.

(5) A person shall cease to be a delegate to a central conference if he ceases to hold the rank of inspector, sergeant or, as the case may be, constable or ceases to be a member of the branch from which he is a delegate or, in the case of a woman, of a branch in the region from which she is a delegate or, as the case may be, of the metropolitan police force or the City of London police force.

(6) Where a member of a branch board has been chosen as such a central officer of the Federation as is mentioned in Regulation 6(11), he shall, by virtue of this paragraph and without prejudice to the filling of any casual vacancy among the delegates elected by that board to the appropriate central conference, become an additional delegate from that board to that conference and, subject to paragraph (5), shall remain such until some other person is chosen for the office in question.

(7) Schedule 3 shall have effect in relation to each of the central conferences.

Proceedings of central conferences

10.—(1) Each central conference shall meet each year at such times as the Secretary of State shall determine after consultation with the joint central committee of the Federation and shall hold an annual meeting lasting not more than three days or, with the consent of the Secretary of State, four days.

(2) The three, or any two, of the central conferences may, by agreement, sit together for the purpose of discussing matters of common interest.

(3) The three central conferences sitting together shall be known as the joint central conference.

(4) Schedule 2 shall have effect in relation to the proceedings of each of the central conferences.

Conferences arrangements committee

11.—(1) There shall be constituted, in accordance with this Regulation, a conferences arrangements committee charged with the making of arrangements for such meetings as are referred to in Regulation 10.

(2) The conferences arrangements committee shall consist of—

(a)three men holding the rank of inspector,

(b)three men holding the rank of sergeant,

(c)three men holding the rank of constable, and

(d)one woman holding the rank of inspector, sergeant or constable,

not being members of a central committee; and of the three men holding each rank, one shall be a London member, that is to say, a member of the City of London or the metropolitan police force, and the other two shall be provincial members, that is to say, members of other police forces.

(3) The men who are members of the conferences arrangements committee shall be elected by the men who are delegates to the appropriate central conference from the City of London and metropolitan police forces, in the case of the London members, or by the men who are such delegates from other forces, in the case of the provincial members; and the woman member of the said committee shall be elected by the delegates to the joint central conference who are women.

(4) A person shall cease to be a member of the conferences arrangements committee on ceasing to be qualified for membership by reason of his ceasing to hold a particular rank or to be a member of a particular police force or by reason of his becoming a member of a central committee.

(5) The conferences arrangements committee may, each year, hold four ordinary meetings each lasting one day, and such additional meetings as appear to them necessary.

(6) Any expenses incurred by the conferences arrangements committee with the approval of the joint central committee shall be defrayed by the joint central committee.

(7) Notwithstanding anything in Regulation 9, each member of the conferences arrangements committee shall, by virtue of this paragraph, be an additional delegate to the appropriate central conference and on a person becoming a member of the committee and such an additional delegate he shall, if he has been elected a delegate to the conference under Regulation 9, cease to be a delegate so elected.

(8) Schedule 2 shall have effect in relation to the proceedings of the conferences arrangements committee and Schedule 3 shall have effect in relation to that committee.

Central committees

12.—(1) There shall be constituted, in accordance with this Regulation, an inspectors', a sergeants' and a constables' central committee of the Federation.

(2) Each central committee shall be elected by the delegates to the inspectors', sergeants' or, as the case may be, constables' central conference in the manner following:—

(a)two members shall be elected by the men who are delegates from the metropolitan police force or the City of London police force;

(b)one member shall be elected in respect of each region mentioned in Schedule 5 by the men who are delegates from police forces in the region in question, and

(c)one member shall be elected by the delegates who are women, in each case, from among their number.

(3) Schedule 3 shall have effect in relation to each of the central committees.

Proceedings of central committees

13.—(1) Each central committee may hold—

(a)an ordinary meeting once in two months, each meeting lasting not more than three days;

(b)an ordinary meeting once a year with the corresponding central committee of the Scottish Police Federation, lasting not more than two days, and

(c)additional meetings called with the consent of the Secretary of State.

(2) The three or any two of the central committees may, by agreement, sit together as a joint committee either for all purposes of common interest or for any special purpose.

(3) The three central committees shall, at the request of the Secretary of State, sit together as a joint committee for the purpose of considering any question referred to them by him.

(4) The three central committees sitting together shall be known as the joint central committee of the Federation.

(5) A central committee, the joint central committee or a joint committee of any two central committees may make written representations to the Secretary of State and, in matters of importance, a deputation may be appointed to make oral representations to him.

(6) Schedule 2 shall have effect in relation to the proceedings of each central committee, the joint central committee and a joint committee of any two central committees.

Women's regional conferences

14.—(1) In each of the regions mentioned in Schedule 5 two women's conferences, each lasting not more than one day, may be held each year in accordance with arrangements made by the joint central committee of the Federation.

(2) The women members of all the branch boards of the Federation in the region in question shall be delegates to a conference held under this Regulation.

(3) Schedule 2 shall have effect in relation to the proceedings of a women's regional conference.