I’m sorry this latest epistle is late getting out to you but I seem to be ‘meeting myself coming back’ at the moment.  Taking a short break seems to have caused a bit of a backlog.  Fortunately it has been quite quiet nationally although it was sad to note the loss of so many members recently.  On a happier note congratulations to widow member Isobel Walker who has just reached the ripe old age of 105.

It is getting round to our conference in Torquay in September where the main topic is ‘the future of NARPO’.  We will be having an open debate about the future and all aspects of it.  As with many other organisations we have a ‘limited’ pool from which to gain members and branches are finding it much harder to get new members.  I have to say that our ‘tried and tested method’ still works really well and we are very fortunate to have the full support of the force.  I should thank my predecessors as secretary for putting the process in place.  Many branches rely on long standing members to keep their branches running as their original force may have vanished years ago.   We need to keep moving on as an association and this is why the Long Term Strategy Group, of which I am a member, was set up.  We have to consider everything and that may include widening the membership to include support staff, specials, community officers etc.  i can’t imagine how that would go down with some of the older delegates at conference!?  I would be grateful to hear from any of you but more particularly those who have more recently retired of any ideas you may have for the future that can be put forward.  

We will also be discussing motions which I have shown for your information below.  For as long as I can remember this is the first time that there have been NO motions from branches.  All the motions are from the NEC and deal with outstanding matters with regard to the running of the Association: -

MOTION NO 1                                                            NEC

Remove the words ‘and all monies paid shall be vested in the ownership of the Association’ where they appear in the first sentence of the rule and the words ‘vested in the ownership of the Association and’ where they appear in the final sentence in paragraph (ii) of the rule.  The Rule would then read as follows:-

RULE 10 COLLECTION OF SUBSCRIPTIONS

Branches shall be accountable for collecting and accounting for subscriptions.

(i)            Subscription

                Means the minimum subscription referred to in Rule 12.

(ii)           Additional Subscriptions

In order to finance Branch requirements a Branch shall have discretion to levy from its members, annual Branch subscriptions that are supplementary to the minimum subscriptions. These additional Branch subscriptions shall be subject of the provisions of Rules 8 and 9.

(This rule has been changed to make clear who has ‘control’ of the subscriptions when they are collected – it may save us problems in the future!)

MOTION  No 2.                                                          NEC

Rule 18 Misconduct

That the existing Rule 18 and the annexes and appendices thereto be deleted in their entirety and replaced with the following:-   (There are 6 pages of information)

(This is to tidy up the rules of misconduct that removed some branch rights)

MOTION NO 3                                                            NEC                                                    

RULE 27 INTERPRETATION OF RULES AND MATTERS NOT PROVIDED FOR IN THE RULES

That this Conference approves the following change to the current rule by adding the following words in the second sentence, as detailed below.

After “…the Rules of the Association”, add “save as provided for in Rule 28(iii)”.

The new rule would then read, “The National Executive Committee shall determine any question on which the rules are silent or otherwise require interpretation and shall report such decisions to Annual Conference. The National Executive Committee has no power to alter the Rules of the Association, save as provided for in Rule 28(iii)

(This rule change is necessary if the proposed change to Rule 28 is accepted by Conference.)

MOTION NO 4                                                            NEC

RULE 28 AMENDMENT OR REVISION OF RULES

That this Conference approves the following change to the current rule by adding a new paragraph (iii), as detailed below.

(iii) The NEC may make administrative changes to the Rules made necessary by changes in legislation, or for any other reason, without bringing the matter before Annual Conference. Any such changes shall not be made without first informing Branches by means of a Branch Circular, and if any objections to the proposed change(s) are made the matter must be put before Annual Conference to decide, in accordance with paragraph (i).

(Very occasionally changes to the rules are made necessary by changes in legislation, the renaming of Government Departments, or changes in business practices. A new paragraph (iii) will allow any necessary changes to be made after consultation with branches, and subject to their approval, without having to wait for the Annual Conference to approve such purely administrative changes.)

MOTION NO 5                                                            NEC    

That this Conference agrees to the following administrative changes to the current rules in respect of the following:-

Rule 4 Membership of the Association

A few minor amendments are needed to the first paragraph of (i) Full Membership – to take account of the fact that it refers to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (Royal Ulster Constabulary).

Rule 8 Finance

Rule 8 (iii) deals with controls, but it doesn’t mention internet banking, which the NEC and some branches already use.

In order to bring Rule 8 up to date it should read “Branches must establish and maintain a satisfactory system of control of its cash holdings and all its receipts and remittances. All withdrawals from an account whether by cash, cheque, warrant, or electronic means shall require at least two signatories. Branch bank statements must be checked and initialled six monthly by the Branch Chairman.”

Rule 16 (ii) (a) Travelling

This is another rule that needs updating to take account of changes that have occurred. The Inland Revenue is now called the HMRC, and the mileage rate is not updated annually.

It should read “Reimbursement of actual cost of Standard Rail or Public Service Vehicle fare incurred, or at a mileage allowance as applicable. Such mileage allowance shall be at a rate not exceeding the published Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs authorised Mileage Rates applicable to business miles for cars and vans”.

Rule 29 Disbandment of the Association – part (ii)

Change the rule to: -“….handed over to a police charity fund, or funds, that are obviously and undoubtedly charitable”.

(This allows for more than one fund to benefit if the association as a whole is disbanded.)

This motion outlines the current administrative rule changes required.

MOTION NO 6                                                            NEC

REGULATION 11 – ANNEX 1 – REGULATIONS FOR THE CONDUCTING OF ANNUAL CONFERENCE

To amend Regulation 11 of Annex 1 of the Association Rules to exempt NEC members from voting on motions to conference.

(This means that the NEC members do not vote – it saves some embarrassment when a branch motion is in conflict with the NEC and the member is tied by cabinet responsibility to vote against something his or her branch want to see changed)

The Welfare Fund is fully operational and is available to all branch members.  I hope you will make use of it when needed.  We have agreed to change the bank accounts slightly: in effect ANY money not used to run the branch is available to be used for welfare purposes.  We are building up a large amount of money which needs to be used.  As I said last time, unlike the force Benevolent Fund we do NOT provide loans.  We wrote the rules so loans were not part of the system.  However if any recipient, or ANY member, wishes to make a donation to the Fund we would be delighted to accept it for the benefit of others in the future.  It would be remiss of me if I did not thank all those members who, by various means, have donated to the Welfare Fund.  It shows we do care and that the decision the committee took to set the fund up was the right one.  However it will only prove its worth if it is used effectively.  If you wish to be considered please contact me in the first instance so we are at least aware that you need assistance of some kind.

I am aware that the force will be sending letters to all those in receipt of Injury Awards in due course to update the records regarding DSS benefits that are paid.  I am in discussion with them to ensure that it is correct and appropriate.  Some of you may have had a letter from Mouchel on the same subject previously but the Home Office have apparently asked the forces to do this, not just the pension provider.  I should say this is purely administrative and there is nothing to worry about – however I’m a cynic so I believe it for now!

Sorry but its here again!  The web site continues to be proving beneficial to those who use it; we now have almost 300 members registered.  You have heard it all before so I won’t repeat the log in procedure.  It is available on the web site.  Many of you who use the site noticed that it was ‘invaded’ by a Chinese ‘bug’ that changed the front display and stopped its use.  It had actually got into the Yarm Computers server so we weren’t the only ones to suffer.  It did cause a problem for some time in that I became unable to update the web pages, hence some severe delays in passing on information.  Hopefully it is all working again now.  Yarm Computers are looking at making changes to improve safety so you may see a change in the format of the web site as the updates are made.  If you are having difficulty registering please let me know and provide your email, name and a password to use and I will register you.  If you use this manner I will send you an email confirming your log on details.  If you aren’t registered you may miss out on information made available at the time rather than in these newsletters.  The national website has also been updated and improved with links to many sites of interest including the web site politicsuk which holds narpo press releases etc on topics of interest.

The last meeting of the branch took place on 27^th May 2010.  The remaining meetings for 2010 will take place atthe ClevelandPolice Federation offices at Ashfield House, 46 Yarm Road, Stockton on Tees.  We have been made very welcome as you will find if you able to attend.  The remaining meetings for 2010 will take place at 1.30pm on Thursday 23^rd September and Thursday 18^th November 2010.

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As ever these meeting are open for all members to attend and it’s nice to see those of you who are able to make it, we do appreciate that many, if not most of you, continue to work once you have retired so it is somewhat difficult.