Police leaders should rule out compulsory severance

CHIEF Constables should protect warranted officers by refusing to ask for compulsory severance to be brought in.

Mark Smith, Chairman of Essex Police Federation, said the National Police Chiefs’ Council should stand up for officers and stand up to planned cuts to police budgets.

Police chiefs are due to meet next week to discuss whether to ask for compulsory redundancy as a cost-saving measure.

Mr Smith said: “I don’t agree that compulsory severance should be brought in. Voluntary severance is already there to be used and many forces aren’t using it.

“My feeling is that the police officers in Essex will be feeling let down by Chief Constables if they ask the Home Secretary for this power to be used. They need to be saying ‘no we don’t want it’ because they need to stand up to these cuts.

“They need to protect the officers that are working as servants of the crown.

“If compulsory severance is brought in by the Home Secretary then we are moving away from being crown servants.”

Mr Smith added that any future move to make police officers redundant should be balanced out by full employment rights.

However, he stressed that this was not just about the right to strike.

He said: “A member of staff working for Essex Police is covered by a contract and is covered by employment rights – it doesn’t stop them being made redundant but there are processes to protect them.

“There are no processes to protect us here. We don’t have a contract, we’re not covered by employment law.

“If compulsory severance were to be brought in then we should be made employees – we should be given the full power and protection of being employees.

“I don’t only mean the right to strike – I mean contracts, employment law, the right to go to employment tribunals. Everything.

“This is not about striking, because personally I don’t think striking achieves anything. It’s about having that protection.”