The Police Federation of England & Wales victimised and discriminated against officers involved in police pension claims, tribunal finds.
The Police Federation of England & Wales (PFEW) discriminated against and victimised members who previously made claims against the Government after being moved onto pension schemes with reduced benefits, a tribunal has ruled.
The case centered around the refusal of the federation to challenge the Government over their introduction of the Police Pension Regulations 2015 which was subsequently found to be unlawful on the basis of age discrimination.
After reviewing the PFEW’s decisions and communications regarding the police pensions claims, the East London Employment tribunal found:
- The PFEW understood from the outset that that there was a ‘possibility’ of age discrimination;
- Its messaging was ‘unfailingly supportive’ of the transitional provisions;
- It did not provide its members with a ‘rounded understanding’ of the ‘likely outcomes’; instead it provided a skewed and misleading narrative, emphasising unlikely outcomes, with the overriding objective of protecting the transitional provisions;
- General Secretary Ian Rennie had no training in equalities law, for the majority of the time, there was no one who was responsible for equalities issues at its head offices, and there was no evidence that the equalities sub-committee was tasked with examining issues relating to pensions or the PPC;
- There was no consultation of the membership at large, and little evidence that the bodies charged with deciding/reviewing policy were consulted in a meaningful way;
- Consideration was not given as to whether there was any less discriminatory way of redesigning the scheme so as to be fairer to younger officers.
Read more at Leigh Day – https://www.leighday.co.uk/news/news/2023-news/police-federation-of-england-wales-victimised-and-discriminated-against-officers-involved-in-police-pension-claims-tribunal-finds/
IODPA, although just a small organisation, look after the rights of injured officers and officers pensions. I wonder if the top table made the same kind of comments about IODPA like they did with those who ran the pension challenge? Derogatory, underhanded comments because others dared to step forward to help their peers. Nowadays, the federation are not the only group to support officers. Isn,’t it better to work together instead of being precious? After all, officers would only gain and isn,’t that the best thing for everyone?
Was one of these named from the Avon and Somerset area? If it is the same person, he never seemed to support his injured officers either so hardly a surprise to learn he has sold the younger officers down the river.
All about looking after one’s own interests.
PFEW, as another peeson has said, now is your chance to rebuild the trust you have lost in your members.
Alex Duncan. Am I surprised? 😆😆😆
Self serving through and through. Shame I didn’t know this court case was on as I would have tried my hardest to have attended, just to see him in the box…being answerable to someone at long last.
This really does make for sad reading. However, lets hope there is a silver lining to all this.
Now that these three have now apparently left PFEW, and lets hope they have, the federation have a real chance to start over. If poison messages are relayed from the top down in any organisation, all those below will also be tainted.
Now there has been a clean sweep, so to speak, PFEW have an opportunity to go back to being the better staff representatives they always used to be. Met Fed have always been very good so a good one to aspire to.
Come on PFEW, now lets start afresh and get back in touch with those who you are meant to be protecting.
The front line need to know that the force, goverment and country are behind them as they protect our streets.. They put their lives at risk yet receive poor support when injured
I’m sure that gives serving members great comfort, knowing that their interests are being protected.!!!!!😳😳
The Federation gets a well deserved kicking, and long overdue.
I have no issue with some of the many hard-working Fed reps at the ‘ground’ level, who helped me several times during my service. As a national body however, the Federation has for a very long time been a self-serving organisation of well paid, unaccountable people so remote from the front line of policing that it has lost sight of why it is there at all. They have a huge, expensive HQ (‘Land of Leather’) with lavishly furnished offices, salaries and expense accounts that have gone unseen and unchallenged by the membership at large
Only recently they have allowed the FBU to win a battle on their behalf without raising a finger and went on to claim the credit for it.
Now this, where they have taken the side which would benefit them the most if they were to have their way, and have deservedly lost.
The Federation needs to take a long, hard look at themselves after this kicking. It’s clearly time to either undergo a root and branch reform (I thought it had but it clearly hasn’t worked), or better still scrapped altogether and replaced, ground upwards by an organisation which PROPERLY represents and defends the interests of ALL their members. .
I won’t hold my breath though. They’re utterly shambolic.
This is very sad news to hear and the follow on effects will hurt even more current Police Officers, or those who have retired.
It was bad enough having an ‘Official’ side that doesn’t seem to care, you get used to that disloyalty, but to find that it also applies to those you thought you could trust too, well, I’m despondent.
I sincerely hope that the three PolFed officials named, will do the decent thing and resign, if they haven’t already done so, hopefully, never coming near the PolFed again.
The costs in terms of legal fees and compensation will no doubt mean that there will now be an even worse ‘dessert’ for some time to come, especially for those members, or former members who have valid cases that needed PolFed legal funding. I fear many will not now be supported as the monies that should have been made available, have now been lost to the payment of fees and compensation.
Maybe, there will be grounds to sue these former officials to recover some of these costs, thereby letting them experience what it is like to be discriminated against. E
Whether that happens, or not, it’s a big loss for us and a massive win for those who would do us harm.
Those who are there to represent us must have been born before 1967 then and being unaffected themselves decided to betray the rest of their colleagues. Shameful. So glad that those still in service and discriminated against have been victorious.
Wow and they are supposed to be on our side.
I hope all three fed secretaries feel really proud of how they screwed over police officers and their pensions. Well done to the Met fed. Always knew they were fit for purpose with some good fed reps in situ. Unlike the shower that is PFEW. Thank God all three are now gone.
Come on PFEW, show us that you can change and that you have our backs, now that the last general secretary has now departed.
This makes for poor reading for PFEW. I am not surprised at all to read how Rennie and Duncan held officers in such contempt. There was no accountability. They looked after each other and were a law unto themselves. Both should be ashamed of how they treated the very people they were meant to have protected. They failed them. Both should hang their heads in shame.