- Police Negotiating Board
The Police Negotiating Board is a
United Kingdom non-departmental public body established by Act of Parliament in1980 to negotiate the pay and terms and conditions of employment of the British police. It is funded by theDepartment for Work and Pensions , and theOffice of Manpower Economics provides the Board with an independentSecretariat .The PNB has an independent chairman and deputy chairman appointed by the Prime Minister, whose roles are to supply an independent voice in all negotiations [ [http://www.ome.uk.com/review.cfm?body=1 Office of Manpower Economics ] ] .
Chairmen of the PNB have included:
* Sir Harold Atcherley (1983 -1986 )When agreement between the Staff Side and the Official Side cannot be reached after
negotiation , nor subsequently resolved throughconciliation , the relevant issues are referred to the Police ArbitrationTribunal (PAT). Awards by the PAT have the status of a recommendation by the PNB as if it were an agreement by both sides, so they are effectively binding on both the Staff and the Official sides of PNB due to paragraph 39 of the PNB Constitution, as noted by Lord Justice Keene in the judicial review of the Home Secretary's decision [cite court | litigants="Staff Side of PNB and John Francis v Secretary of State for the Home Department" | year=2008 | court=EWHC 1173] . However, such decisions are not binding on theHome Secretary , demonstrated by her decision on the 2007police pay award, which was set aside for officers inEngland andWales , who received 1.9% instead, although the award was implemented in full inScotland . She stated that this necessary to maintain has not responded to comparisons of her decision to that of the Minister for Education, Ed Balls, who implemented a 2.5% pay award in full for all teachersFact|date=July 2008.There is cross-party concernFact|date=July 2008 that the Government's handling of the 2007 police pay award is seriously undermining the Police Negotiating Board machinery, and a national
ballot of police officers by thePolice Federation resulted in 86% of officers calling for the Police Federation of England and Wales to start to lobby for a change in legislation to allow police officers full industrial rights [cite web | url=http://www.polfed.org/mediacenter/B6728F6F132B466087D1AB64C92B67E3.asp.asp | title=Results of the Police Federation Poll of Members 2008 | date=20 May 2008 ] . Over 200Members of Parliament have signed anEarly Day Motion calling on the Government to reconsider its decisionFact|date=July 2008. The Motion was tabled byHome Affairs Select Committee ChairmanKeith Vaz - a Labour MP - who has stated that:cquote2
quotetext=The Government’s decision weakens the arbitration panel’s power and role. Without trust and respect for the decision on both sides, arbitration becomes meaningless. The Government’s case is weakening by the day... The Home Secretary and the Prime Minister have continuously defended the Government’s decision by arguing that pay awards must be kept in line with the Government’s targets oninflation — not on police funding, which would have been understandable — yet we heard from thechief constable ofNottinghamshire police that the 2.5 per cent. was in his budget and that he was ready to pay it... the potential effect on inflation seems minimal, especially as the Government have decided to payPCSO s — who work with officers — and police desk staff the full 2.5 per cent.
personquoted=Keith Vaz MP
quotesource= [http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.com/pa/cm200708/cmhansrd/cm080110/halltext/80110h0001.htm Westminster Hall debate on police funding]
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External links
* [http://www.ome.uk.com/review.cfm?body=1 Police Negotiating Board] (Official website)
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