Police Federation chiefs to step down at end of month

 
Turbulent period: Chairman of the Police Federation Steve Williams
Pa7 April 2014

The chairman and the general secretary of the Police Federation are set to retire by the end of the month, the organisation has said.

Chairman Steve Williams and general secretary Ian Rennie have both decided to leave the police service and their roles in the Federation, following the Plegbate row and an independent review which revealed the force has millions of pounds in unaccounted reserves.

Mr Williams said: "The Police Federation has faced a turbulent period in its history and there has been much criticism of our organisation and the way certain members behaved.

"When I took up office it was quite clear that as an organisation we were not fit for purpose and that is why I, along with my joint central committee colleagues, commissioned an independent review to help us identify our weaknesses and come up with solutions of how we could do things differently.

"When the independent review was published in January, it delivered a hard-hitting report that clearly showed that we were not delivering what our members wanted, were failing in key areas and that many of our practices were outdated."

Mr Williams and Mr Rennie will leave in late May, after the Police Federation's annual conference.

A review of the Police Federation by charity the RSA published in January found that the body had around £95 million in reserves and assets.

The organisation was deeply divided into local factions, most of which refused to share details of their accounts with the investigators.

Researchers found there were centrally held reserves of £29.5 million and those held by branch boards stood at around £35 million, but there was also another estimated £30 million in separate accounts, details of which were not given to the national heads of the organisation.

The RSA said that subscription rates should be cut by 25 per cent in 2015, subsidised by central reserves, in a bid to hand back some of the money to members.

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The federation represents officers from the rank of constable to inspector, and has around 127,000 members in England and Wales.

It became embroiled in the so-called Plebgate row after then-chief whip Andrew Mitchell had a foul-mouthed confrontation with an officer guarding Downing Street in September 2012.

Mr Mitchell, who was accused of calling the officer a "pleb", which he denied, was forced to resign his post following a month of intense media interest in the story.

The saga continued the following month when members of the Warwickshire, West Mercia and West Midlands branches met with the politician in his Sutton Coldfield constituency in a bid to clear the air.

Detective Sergeant Stuart Hinton, Inspector Ken MacKaill and Sergeant Chris Jones claimed that he had refused to reveal what he had actually said, but this was apparently contradicted by a secret recording of the meeting.

They were later hauled before MPs to explain what had happened.

Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee Keith Vaz said: "I am amazed and surprised by the proposed retirement of two people who have been instrumental in instigating reform in the Police Federation.

"Although evidence given to the Home Affairs Select Committee so far has shown examples of bullying and inappropriate behaviour, I assumed that the leadership of the federation was united in seeking fundamental reform.

"These retirements will leave this important organisation with a huge vacuum and leaderless at a time when they need strong direction. It will remain to be seen if the federation will continue on the path of change."

Home Secretary Theresa May said: "As chairman, Steve Williams understood that the Police Federation needs to change, and I am sorry that he will be retiring in May.

"Steve has chaired the Federation through a difficult time for policing in England and Wales. He was right to commission the Normington Review, which recommended radical and urgent reform to the Federation.

"If the Federation is to have public legitimacy, the Normington recommendations now need to be implemented, in full and in good time."I wish Steve the best of luck for the future."

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