Dear readers, welcome to the latest edition of the Chair’s blog. I hope that this finds you all as well as can be and is of some use to you.
Pension Concerns
We have been contacted by many of you, concerned about the recent announcement of a recalculation of the lump sums being paid to those retiring from Home Office forces, resulting in a reduction.
We have been in direct contact with Railpen (who manage our pensions), and they have confirmed that none of our pension schemes is affected by the change announced to our Home Office colleagues. I hope that offers you some reassurance.
Policing - a Career or Just a Job?
Although it is reassuring that this particular change doesn’t impact our schemes, it feels like yet another blow for our colleagues in Home Office forces, many of whom we stand shoulder to shoulder with every day.
At the risk of sounding very old (and I’m getting there quicker than I’d like!), when I joined policing, it was seen as a career and one you could take real pride in. A profession where you could serve 30 years, keep people safe, and genuinely feel you had made a difference. At the end of it, you received a pension that reflected that commitment.
The pension helped to offset the realities of the job. We’re all familiar with cancelled rest days, missed weddings and family events, and scrambling for childcare because you’re still writing up a job long after your shift should have ended. Then there are the endless “comedians” you meet on a late turn that have had a few drinks, and that’s before even mentioning the violence, being punched, kicked and spat at more times than we care to remember.
It was a career, but now, for many, it feels like a job.
Pensions have become less of a pull. Newer officers know they’re likely to be working longer for a more modest outcome, and many don’t see that as worth it. And if we’re honest, who could blame them?
We’re seeing fewer “career cops”, people who wanted to spend their working lives in policing. Instead, we’re seeing talented officers come in, gain experience, and move on after five or six years, taking the skills, resilience and qualifications policing has given them elsewhere.
That should concern all of us, because policing still has the potential to offer an incredible career filled with purpose, a range of challenges, and a sense of pride. But if we want to retain the best people, they first need to be valued, and they also rightly expect to be fairly rewarded and supported to stay in the long term.
So, the question is: how do we get back there? How do we make policing a career again and not a stepping stone? Without change - whether that’s pensions, workload, or recognition - I fear the shift will continue, and the idea of policing as a lifelong career will continue to fade slowly.
Force Uplift
I hope all that I have expressed above resonates with those who will be welcoming, training and ultimately supervising recruits over the next few years. Yes, after some tough years, I’m very pleased to hear the news of a significant uplift in BTP numbers, beginning imminently.
The force is looking to employ 612 recruits, of whom 38 will be in Scotland. While we have to consider the offset of those retiring, or dare I say it, leaving the force for pastures new, this is the biggest uplift we have taken on.
With this will come challenges, as we know, particularly in the training environment. As we double our numbers at Spring House, we must ensure that we consider the health and safety of those there.
I’ve previously expressed my views in a couple of specific areas and will reiterate that we must ensure all uniforms and equipment are ready and available for all recruits. We cannot allow ill-fitting uniforms and hand-me-down equipment – or, even worse, no provisions on this front - to be a consideration under any circumstances. The force is aware of the numbers involved in this and must be proactive.
The other area where I’ve indicated that the force must be pragmatic and balanced with its approach is within PSD. With such a large number of new officers arriving, we need to ensure that, where necessary, the focus remains on education. This responsibility will also fall on supervision. Where we can educate colleagues and resolve issues locally, then let’s do so. I note a worrying trend of matters going straight to PSD when they really don’t need to, and we must turn this around and adopt a more balanced approach.
The Federation can also play an important part in this uplift, and I’ve reached out to the Force and suggested we could have a rep embedded within Spring House for the duration of the uplift to help with matters such as conduct, performance, health, safety, and wellbeing, and to understand matters within FRPU.
I’d encourage the force to take me up on this offer, and I look forward to their response.
National Negotiating Meeting
I’m always keen to update members on matters raised at each NNM meeting. Items on the agenda at the latest one included my growing frustration with the unresolved secondment policy for those seconded to Police Scotland custody. This is a hold-up at a local level, and I’m particularly grateful to SLT on the call, who are also keen to see this matter resolved, and soon. Other matters raised include the force uplift (as discussed above) and a desire to look to update the machinery of negotiation.
The machinery of negotiation between British Transport Police (BTP) and the BTP Federation is the formal framework through which pay, conditions, and policy matters are discussed. It operates through structured meetings, consultation forums, and collective representation, where the Federation advocates on behalf of officers. At the same time, BTP engages in reaching agreements or making informed decisions on workforce issues. One thing that’s currently, and very crucially, missing within this is the involvement of the British Transport Police Authority (BTPA).
For those who may be aware, the BTPA is the oversight body responsible for governance and strategy, and for holding BTP accountable to the public. Effectively, they are our employers, so it’s certainly not an unreasonable idea that they form part of the Machinery of Negotiation. This is a protracted yet important part of our current work, and we will keep you updated as it progresses.
Advocacy Awareness Training
Our commitment to ensuring that our members are represented as strongly as possible continues, with our Federation’s first-ever advocacy awareness training course for a cohort of our reps recently taking place.
Running an advocacy course enables the Federation to build a team of confident, competent workplace reps who can effectively support officers in the misconduct field. This can be particularly impactful if no legal recourse is available. However, this does not make the reps lawyers by any stretch of the imagination.
What it does is help to ensure officers receive fair and informed support. Ultimately, it professionalises Federation support and helps protect both individual officers and organisational integrity.
This additional training is more important now than ever to ensure we can assist in challenging evidence, present mitigation and protect your rights should you be unfortunate enough to find yourself under investigation and in this process. This training should lead to better case preparation and greater consistency across reps, and further training sessions will take place in the coming months.
I’m grateful to the force for allowing the reps to take part, and particular thanks to Nobby Goodband for designing and leading the course. We are fortunate to have someone with Nobby’s experience and knowledge on our team. Our training is of such a high standard that other Federations are asking to take part in it and seeking our support. This is significant and shows the standard we are seeking to operate at to represent our members best.
Blue Light Show
We're looking forward to meeting police colleagues from across the country and connecting with other emergency service workers at The Blue Light Show.
The Show returns to London’s Olympia on 1 and 2 July, and the programme is packed with hands-on demonstrations of tech and service equipment, practical skills sessions, scenario-based learning, and insights into emergency services collaboration and joint responses. You can browse the agenda here.
This year, we’re taking part with our welfare vehicle. We’ll show other policing and emergency services organisations what was done to convert it and kit it out so it can support officers during significant incidents and major events, as well as assist with day-to-day wellbeing.
Tickets are free, and you can book your place here.
A Pedalling Padelathon
Those who know me, or have been readers of this blog, will know at times I like to do things that are a bit different/daft - delete as you see fit! And my next venture doesn’t deviate from that.
I have a passion for ensuring that those in policing are looked after as well as possible. This hopefully shows in my day job, but I’m also keen to raise the profile (and money) of charities that support the police family. These charities often go unnoticed but really do need our help.
This year, I’ve created a pedalling Padelathon to raise funds for the Police Treatment Centres (PTC) at Harrogate and Auchterarder. I’m fortunate to sit on the board of trustees for the PTC and see first-hand the fantastic work that goes on behind the scenes to support those within policing who need it. I’m a firm believer that if we are in a position to help people, then we should do so. I’m aware that I’m luckier than most and want to take advantage of this.
PTC at Harrogate have recently built a padel court at the centre, which was where the idea to hold a charity event came from. I wanted to make it challenging for those taking part, so I have made it a Padelathon where participants from BTPF, Scottish Police Federation, Police Federation of Northern Ireland, Civil Nuclear Police Federation, Police Supers Association and Scottish Supers Association, along with some friends of the BTPF, will play padel continuously from 8am to 8pm on Friday 14 August. That’s 12 hours of non-stop padel, which will certainly be a challenge, and the fact that the skillset of the players ranges from bad to very bad to awful, certainly won’t help matters!
To make things more difficult, when players aren’t taking their turn on the padel court, they’ll be sitting on static bikes attempting to see how many times they can cycle 210 miles. This is significant as it’s the distance between the centres in Auchterarder and Harrogate.
Your support is very welcome, and if you can, please donate via our JustGiving page. Every donation makes a difference to ill and injured officers.
That’s all for this month's blog. I hope that you have found it useful. Please stay safe and look after yourselves and one another.
Until the next time.
Stuart Cowan - Chair of BTP Federation