DPF Annual
Conference was held on 15-16th November 2006 at the Glynhill Hotel, Renfrew, Scotland. The event was organised by the Northern Area Joint Branch Board. The
following is a resume of events; it is not to be regarded as comprehensive
Conference Minutes.
A record
of Annual Conference will be available to all members by way of a DVD issued to
each Branch; this will also be published on the DPF website.
AGENDA.
The Agenda
was issued to delegates prior to Conference. For security reasons this was not
publicized in advance. The final Agenda items discussed at Conference were:-
1.
Attendance
Report – CASOC Chairman.
2.
Opening Address
- National Chairman.
3.
Address by National
Chairman to CCMDP.
4.
Address by
CCMDP.
5.
Questions to
CCMDP.
6.
Annual Report
“Finance” - National Treasurer.
7.
Address by
National Chairman to Under-Secretary of State for Defence.
8.
Address by
Under-Secretary of State for Defence.
9.
Presentation by
NPCTC.
10.
Presentation by
PFEW.
11.
Motions (listed
below).
12.
Review of the
Year – National Chairman.
13.
Review of the
Year – General Secretary.
14.
Review of the
Year – JBB & SSG Secretaries.
15.
Reports –
Health & Safety, Clothing, Welfare-Support.
16.
Items for
ratification (listed below).
17.
Annual Report.
18.
Closed session
– Question Time with panel (members listed below).
19.
Elections.
SPEECHES.
Speeches
to Conference were given by Mr Eamon Keating, National Chairman, Mr Steve Love,
CCMDP and Mr Derek Twigg, MP; Under-Secretary of State for Defence. These will
be published on the website.
QUESTIONS
TO CCMDP.
CCMDP took
a series of impromptu questions from the delegates present. They are not reproduced
here.
PRESENTATIONS.
Presentations
were given by the Northern Police Convalescent and Treatment Centre (NPCTC) and
Mr Alan Gordon, Police Federation of England and Wales. CCMDP also took
questions from those present.
MOTIONS.
The
following Motions were “Carried” by Conference:-
1.
NEC - That this Conference mandates
the National Executive Committee to cause a cessation of the 2005 Motion which
was Carried in relation to subscriptions and that there is no increase in
subscriptions this year.
2.
NEC
composite Motion with MidWest JBB - That this Conference mandates that the budgets for the
Area JBB Committee be disaggregated from the DPFHQ central budget to the Area
JBB on 01st April each year and that this mandate does not include
the SSG/NAC. This is to take effect from 01st April 2007.
3.
CASOC - That this Conference directs the
NEC to endeavour to obtain official funding for Conferences and other
activities as enjoyed by the Home Office
Federations.
4.
Southern JBB - That this Conference has no
confidence in the MDP Management’s application and monitoring of the Statutory
Grievance Procedures and accordingly directs the NEC to seek a renegotiation of
the current system to ensure that when Managers assume the responsibility of a Deciding
Officer, they are appropriately trained and accredited before taking on such a
role.
5.
Southern JBB - That this Conference directs the
NEC to produce from the AMB a credible Dispute Resolution Procedure to deal
with bullying and harassment at work. Further this Conference condemns the
lack-lustre attitude of the AMB concerning this matter to date.
6.
Southern JBB - That this Conference directs the
NEC to negotiate a policy whereby MDP Official Accommodation is fully funded
for all it’s requirements, thereby preventing the current problems that are
being experienced by some of our members at this time.
7.
Southern JBB – That this Conference firmly
registers its’ concern at the erosion of the Ministry of Defence Police
identity and directs the NEC to take every opportunity and necessary action to
challenge both internally and externally, any such erosion and restore the
identity of the Ministry of Defence Police where necessary.
8.
NEC – That this Conference introduce a
rule amendment to Rule 10 to read as below in order to facilitate the casual
cover of ex-officio posts:-
Rule 10 – Elections.
(a) The National Executive Committee shall have discretion
in determining the method to be used in filling any casual or temporary
vacancy, taking into account the timetable involved if that particular vacancy
were to be filled by election. This includes vacancies on any Committee and
non-elected ex-officio posts. The member filling the vacancy shall have the
full voting and other rights applicable to the vacant position.
ITEMS
FOR RATIFICATION.
The
following items were ratified by Conference:-
i)
i)
Manual of Guidance for Branch Representatives.
ii)
ii)
Contract between Russell, Jones and Walker in relation to Operational Firearms
Incidents.
iii)
iii)
“Friends” training in relation to Post-Incident Procedures.
iv)
iv)
Current DPF position in relation to Net Pay Deduction and Pensionable Status of
Allowances.
v)
v)
Z-Days, CCMDP
considering a “live” comparison study between overtime rates of time-and-a-half
as against time-and-a-third if there were no longer a Z-Day option.
vi)
vi)
Overtime limits.
vii)
vii)
Harassment and Bullying Policy.
viii)
viii)
Governance issues.
ANNUAL
REPORT.
The Annual
Report was presented as a draft copy. The content was accepted, in its’
entirety, by Conference. The final document will be issued to the membership as
a hard-copy.
QUESTION-TIME
PANEL.
This was a
“closed session” where neither Minutes nor a video record were kept. The panel
members comprised of National Chairman, General Secretary, JBB Secretaries from
MidWest/ Northern/ Southern Areas and SSG-NAC Secretary. Questions were
accepted from the delegates and ex-officio members present.
ELECTIONS.
Mr Eamon
Keating was re-elected as National Chairman. Mr Mick Ruck was elected as CASOC
member (MidWest Area).
Paul O’Neill
General
Secretary.
