How does the Police Federation of England and Wales work?

HAVE YOU ever wondered the structure of the Police Federation of England and Wales? About what happens to your monthly money?

EssexFedFocus is beginning a weekly series, put together by chairman Mark Smith, outlining the make-up of the Federation, both locally and nationally.

We start this week with Federation structure. Click here for more.

Each police force has its own Police Federation. Each federation is made up of four boards. All federation representatives are serving police officers.

These boards are the CBB, which is the Constables’ Branch Board, The SBB, the Sergeants’ Branch Board, and the IBB, which is the Inspectors’ Branch Board.

The members of these boards are the local representatives who are elected by the membership. These representatives have to stand for election every three years.

In Essex each board is made up of 12 representatives. Each board has their own Chairman and Secretary and each board meets separately four times a year to discuss their own issues and agendas.

All three boards also meet together four times a year and this is when the representatives meet as the Joint Branch Board (JBB). The JBB has its own Chairman and Secretary. In most federations across the country the JBB Chairman and Secretary are full time roles.

In Essex we have four full time federation representatives. They are the Chairman and Secretary, the Deputy Secretary and the Conduct lead. The holders of these positions are elected by the local representatives (the JBB) and are also elected every three years.

The last group to cover is the Essex federation Executive.

The Executive is made up of the following; the three Chairs and Secretaries of the separate branch boards, the four full time representatives and the vice chairman of the JBB. Eleven members in total.

The executive meet nine times a year. These meetings allow decisions relating to all the boards to be made without having to call a full JBB meeting. It also allows urgent business to be addressed as soon as possible

Next week: Who does what in Essex Police Federation?