Federation Open Meeting Leads To Positive Change

Last month’s Hampshire Police Federation Open Meeting gave officers the chance to ask questions to senior leaders, and it has already led to some positive changes.

Federation Chair Zoë Wakefield said the meeting on 15 May went well and for some officers it was the first time they had the opportunity to speak to the Chief Constable and PCC.

She continued: “Last year the Chief Constable listened to us about the promotion process and changed it. So positive things do happen because of our open meeting.

“This year’s event was very different to last year, because the Chief has now been in the job for 15 months, so we were able to hold him to account more on some of the changes that he’s made.

“And some positive changes have already come out of the meeting. For example, we talked about how many officers who are off sick don’t hear from anybody. They don’t have regular check-ins with their line manager, nobody’s trying to take steps to get them back into the workplace, they’re just left off sick with no contact.

“So at a recent senior leader meeting, the Deputy Chief Constable told all senior leaders that they all had to make sure that anyone on their teams who is off sick was being looked after, was being kept in contact with, and measures were being put in place to try and get them back into the workplace. That’s just one example of things that are said at the open meeting that end up changing for the benefit of officers.”