Who We Are

Background

The Police Federation of England and Wales is a National staff association for all police constables, sergeants, inspectors and chief inspectors. It was created by the Police Act 1919, passed a year after a crippling strike by the unrecognised National Union of Police and Prison Officers.

The Police Act standardised pay and conditions of service throughout the country and whilst improving rates of pay, it also imposed many of the restrictions police officers continue to work under, including constraints on their personal lives, the inability to form trades unions and the lack of full industrial rights.
Because police officers are legally prohibited from going on strike, the Federation is reliant on negotiation alone to reach agreements on pay and conditions of service.

Our Structure

We are a National staff association whose Heaquarters are to be found at ’Federation House’, Leatherhead, Surrey. This is a newly built facility, close to London and its’ many attractions, which also operates as a hotel for members. For more information on the services on offer from Leatherhead or the activities of our Central Committees, please visit www.polfed.org.

The 43 Police Forces of England and Wales are grouped together in Regions.
The South Yorkshire Police branch of the Police Federation is part of No.2 Region, together with the Federations of West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, Humberside, Cleveland, Durham and Northumbria Police.
Each Region has elected representatives who sit on the various Central Committees, contributing to the National policing agenda.

Locally, every 3 years members have the right to stand for election as a Federation Representative and to vote for candidates in a variety of ranks and roles intended to provide a broad spread of representation across the Force. Details of these triennial elctions are always published on the Force’s General Orders. Officers considering standing for election are always welcome to contact the Federation Office at Maltby for more information and guidance.

There are 4 boards of Federation representatives in the South Yorkshire branch, one for each of the 3 ranks of constable, sergeant and inspector and also a Joint Branch Board where each of the 3 rank boards meet together to debate matters of local importance.

There are 41 members of South Yorkshire Police Federation Joint Branch Board, 38 of whom are workplace representatives who combine their duties as police officers with their voluntary additional work for the Police Federation. Three Joint Branch Board members, the General Secretary, Chairman and Discipline Liaison Officer work as full time representatives at the Federation Office at Maltby Police Station.

In addition we employ two members of secretarial support staff at the Federation Office, who not only look after administration matters but also give telephone advice on a range of issues from Member Service Schemes to Police Regulations.

What do Federation Representatives Do?

The Police Federation is responsible under law for the welfare of its’ members and the efficiency of the Police Force. Federation Representatives discharge this responsibility by entering into negotiations and consultation with Force managers and command team members. One example is in representing the interests of members at Health and Safety Committees, although there are very many other areas of representation which are equally as necessary.

One of the most important functions is to provide personal representation for members who may find themselves, for example, facing allegations of misconduct or who may believe that they have been unfairly treated by the Force. Once again, there are many more areas where members need the support, advice and guidance of their Federation Representative. For this reason we ensure that we have Representatives who are properly trained in areas such as Equality and Diversity, Health and Safety, Training and Development and Discipline.

Policing is a 24/7 responsibility and it is fully understood that members working shifts may need urgent representation or advice at all hours of the day and night. For this reason, Representatives make themselves available at all times. To find details of which Representative is ’On Call’, members should contact the Force Incident Manager at Atlas Court.