Alison Jones, BTP Federation's first female rep, was elected in the early 1980's. Since then, much has changed both in policing and the Federation, but the fact remains that far fewer female officers volunteer to become Fed Reps than their male counterparts.
As we consider the barriers to volunteering for female officers and how we can remove them, we speak to a recently appointed rep, Lisa Scott-Savage, and revisit Alison Jones' story, which was first shared in The History of BTP Federation.
Alison Jones
At the time Alison considered becoming a Fed rep, welfare matters and issues at work were generally dealt with by the Inspector and Chief Inspector of the policewoman's branch, who would come out and check that Alison and her colleagues were okay.
"There weren't that many people interested [in becoming reps] at the time," Alison explained. "And there wasn't a woman, so I thought 'Well, why not? Go and stand and see what we can do, what we can help with.'
"I think at first, it was a little bit overwhelming that there was a woman there, but I was okay because there were a few other reps on from Liverpool. None of the others really bothered with me but women did women's things, and men did men's things in those days."
The "women's things" Alison was keen to address included uniform and safety equipment for female colleagues.
"Women police officers fought for a baton, and we had the tiniest, tiniest of batons that you've ever seen, and you carried it in your handbag," Alison said.
"That was something we did fight for because handbags were dangerous. They [assailants] could wrap them around your neck because they were shoulder bags with long handles. Later on, it was trousers - if the men wore trousers on football trains, why couldn't we? - so we got the trousers too. And then the hats."
Looking back on her role with the Federation, Alison is proud of her contribution. She said: "Many of the officers I served with were World War Two men. They did their service, joined the police and worked until retirement at 65 - women retired at 60.
"There was this old attitude that women should be at home or should be having babies. It was important for the women to move on, and I thought that if there was a woman on the Federation, then obviously they might get more support."
Alison remained a Federation rep until she retired in 1989 as a result of ill health.
Lisa Scott-Savage
Lisa is a uniformed officer based out of Derby. She joined the Federation in March 2021 having witnessed several officers being treated unfairly by the job and suffering as a result.
She said: "At the time I had 28 years of policing experience and I felt compelled to help so when a vacancy arose, I applied, primarily to support and assist colleagues. I am a great advocate of fairness and believe it is important to challenge to make a difference for officers. I want officers to be always treated reasonably and professionally."
While some of the common concerns Lisa hears from female officers (sickness, welfare, pregnancy, TDR and flexible working - or a lack of flexibility) may differ from the issues Alison tackled, certain attitudes remain.
"It saddens me to say that female officers are still experiencing sexism within the workplace," Lisa said. "There is a lot of archaic language and stereotypes of women being used by a certain demographic of officers and supervision. More and more women are rightly standing up and challenging this behaviour but there is still work to do in this area."
Lisa is confident the culture in policing is changing but she also wants to see change in the Federation.
"Since joining the Federation, I am continually impressed by the dedication and professionalism of our Reps, who put in many hours, often in their own time to support colleagues," Lisa said. "We receive fabulous and relevant training and inputs from other departments to enable us to carry out our role. However, we do need to diversify and be more representative of our workforce.
"We only have four female reps on the Federation. I would encourage any female to join; I have only ever felt supported and valued, everyone has a voice and it's important to have a woman's perspective to represent our membership. It is also a great way to meet new people and make friends."
Barriers to volunteering
Speaking informally to members, we know that working part time and having caring responsibilities are two factors that deter some officers (and women especially) from applying to be Fed reps. We sought to address these and other concerns in the new 'Guide to Federation elections' that we introduced last year.
The guide firstly explained the election process, including how potential reps are proposed and voted by their peers. It set out that we welcome Fed reps at any stage in their career. Being young in service isn't a barrier, nor are part-time working arrangements. Each rep is part of a wider team so there is support and additional pairs of hands available. When it comes to out-of-hours work, if a Fed rep needs to be called out it will likely be for a PIP incident, and we have a PIP on-call rota. It isn't compulsory to be PIP trained and therefore participate in that rota.
Lastly, all reps receive comprehensive training and refreshers, but we (and in turn, you, our members) benefit from the diverse lived experience of our reps. There is more diversity within BTP Federation now than there has been for some years, and we will build on this, especially ahead of future elections.
The main Federation elections take place every five years but it's sometimes necessary to hold elections in the intervening period if, for example, a rep decides to retire. In each case, the election process will be advertised, and all eligible members are welcome - and encouraged - to participate.