Judicial Review

Mr Paul McKeever, Chairman of the Staff Side of the Police Negotiating Board commenting on the Judicial Review on the Police Pay issue declining the Staff Side case stated:-

"We are extremely disappointed with the decision of the Court. However, we take heart that we have won the moral case. This has been demonstrated by the tremendous support shown by the public and politicians of all political parties who have voiced their anger and concern at the way this government has treated police officers across the UK. We did not take the decision to bring this matter to court lightly, but the failure of the Home Secretary to fight our corner in government and her unwillingness to accept and implement the findings of an independent Police Arbitration Tribunal left us with no choice. Without the industrial rights enjoyed by other workers we had no other method of protesting and challenging the decision.

The Judgement recognises that "police officers are in a difficult position over pay. They are denied the right to strike. In its place is put negotiating and arbitration machinery, but the outcome of these processes is not binding on the eventual decision maker, the Home Secretary".

The Home Secretary's action has shown that, whatever the decision reached through negotiation at the Police Negotiating Board, or recommendation of an independent Police Arbitration Tribunal, the government can impose whatever pay award they wish on police officers. That cannot be right. The trade off for not having industrial rights should be negotiation and binding arbitration

We are police officers, we want to fight crime and criminals, we don't want to fight the Home Office and the Home Secretary. We should never have been put in this position by the Home Office in the first place. This action was brought to the High Court on behalf of the Staff Side of the Police Negotiating Board, representing all police officers of all ranks throughout the UK. On Thursday of this week there will be a meeting with our colleagues on Staff Side together with our legal team to discuss this judgment, its implications and the option of making an application to appeal against the decision. It would therefore be inappropriate to comment any further ahead of that meeting."

Mr Terry Spence, Chairman of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland said:- "This is an extremely disappointing outcome for all serving police officers in the PSNI."

Mr Stevie McCann, Secretary of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland, said:- "The P.F.N.I. will continue to represent the interests of our members at the Police Negotiating Board but I wonder if our negotiations are founded on a lack of transparency and integrity from the Home Office to implement any agreement we reach."

The Judicial Review is available here as a pdf file.