Police won’t be taking industrial action

The Police Federation of England and Wales has failed to achieve enough votes to lobby the government for industrial rights.

An online ballot by the federation, which has more than 130,000 members, was open to all police ranks from constable up to chief inspector.

Out of the 133,108 officers eligible to vote, some 56,333 took part in the ballot, with 45,651 voting in favour and 10,681 voting against.

The Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) policy states that a clear mandate to seek industrial rights can only be provided by more than half of its total membership of 133,108 voting in favour.

Although eight out of 10 voting were in favour, it only accounted for 34% of total membership.

Steve Williams, PFEW chair, said: “A significant proportion of our membership has indicated that they want the right to take industrial action. This highlights the pressures currently felt by rank and file officers throughout England and Wales.

“However, it would not be appropriate to undertake a course of action that could potentially change the employment status of more than 133,000 police officers if fewer than half of those officers have voted for us to do so.

www.polfed.org/mediacenter/ballot.asp