Hertfordshire Constabulary hosted the Disabled Police Association’s Annual General Meeting at Force Headquarters in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire on the 28th February 2018. It is the first time that the Constabulary has hosted a meeting of the national association, which was facilitated by the force’s own Disability and Carers Network (HDCN).

The Disabled Police Association is the national body representing disability support networks from police forces across the UK. It aims to promote equality of opportunity for disabled people working within the extended police family.

Guests were welcomed by Hertfordshire’s disability champion Superintendent Dean Patient, and the conference was formally opened by Chief Constable Charlie Hall. He said: “I am proud that Hertfordshire Constabulary has, for the first time, hosted the Disabled Police Association’s annual conference.

“Since joining the Force as Chief Constable in 2016, I have made it clear that supporting people who face daily challenges through disability should be a priority within the Force. Our workforce is our greatest asset and work to ensure that the Constabulary, and indeed, police forces up and down the country understand the issues that face those with disabilities or caring commitments, so that we can support them to give their best, is extremely important.

“It was a pleasure to formally open the conference and I would also like to take this opportunity to thank HDCN Chair Rob Gurney and his colleagues for making it possible for us to host the conference.”

The conference included a number of guest speakers including Vice-Chair of the Police Federation Che Donald, Kate Nash from Purple Space – a networking hub for disabled employees – and Hertfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner David Lloyd. Remote captioning technology was used throughout the day to ensure the speeches were accessible for those who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Mr. Gurney, who is seconded from the Force as President of the DPA, said: “It was a great honour to hold the annual meeting of the Disabled Police Association in Hertfordshire, especially during my tenure as President. Despite the snow, many representatives from Forces right across the UK attended and were able to celebrate the positive contribution that disabled people are making towards policing.

“We are delighted to have enhanced the expertise of the national executive committee following the election of a number of new members who bring experience and enthusiasm to our work. This year heralds the start of improved support to policing from our association with increased social media coverage and staffing resilience.

“The annual meeting provided an outstanding opportunity for the Disabled Police Association to outline its future support to the police service in delivering the objectives set out by the Government’s white paper entitled Improving Lives: The Future of Work, Health and Disability.

“We were especially grateful to Chief Constable Charlie Hall and PCC David Lloyd for taking the time to highlight their desire for a police service that is representative of the communities that it serves and in particular the work of the disability networks both locally and nationally.”

A few photos from our AGM – some fantastic people with some amazing talent #stillable pic.twitter.com/oMftS7lQFV

— Disabled Police Association (@DisabledPolAssn) February 28, 2018

David Lloyd, who is also Chair of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, closed the conference. He said: “I was very pleased to see Hertfordshire Constabulary hosting such an important event. The theme of a lot of discussion during the day was a collaborated approach to achieving best practice.

“We heard a lot about the significant progress being made across policing, especially recognition that disability presents itself in many ways, and the work being done around the mental health of our staff and officers.

“I know the Constabulary takes this work very seriously and have discussed our approach with the force’s disability champion. I look forward to even more positive action in the future.” ∎

Sunday 3rd December 2017 is the annual celebration of the International Day of People with Disability (IPDP), started 25 years ago by the United Nations General Assembly. The day aims to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilise support for the dignity, rights and wellbeing of disabled staff. It also seeks to increase awareness of the benefits of the integration of disabled people in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life.

This year the theme focuses on ‘transformation towards a sustainable and resilient society for all’ and we are being encouraged to notice the central importance of resilience. As a police support network, the Disabled Police Association is encouraging our local disability networks to strengthen the role of disabled people as agents of change.

As members of UK police forces, we live in times of great challenge, both economically and politically. It is sometimes difficult to be constant in your belief that it is possible to reach a tipping point in the recognition of talents of disabled people. It takes great strength and courage to believe disabled people, whether they are in work, or not, can transcend protracted periods of welfare reform, economic austerity and political uncertainty.

But as networks, we can! One of the ways we can encourage our police forces to do this is by learning directly from disabled people and celebrating and investing in our disability networks, and building our communities in the UK and across the globe.

The Disabled Police Association are encouraging all our local networks to mark this celebration to raise awareness of disability. Purple Space are championing Purple Light Up to celebrate the economic and leadership contribution of disabled employees.

Some facts about the economic contribution of disabled employees (Labour Force Survey 2016/Scope Economic Research):

• Over 3 million people who identify as being disabled are in work: they are today’s senior managers or the managers of the future
• Disabled employees contribute over £16.02 billion per annum in tax
• 3.6% of businesses have one or more disabled owners, representing roughly 10,700 companies employing 78,000 people
• 6.6 million people with a disability or health impairment are in work, making a huge wealth of skilled and committed disabled people in the UK who make a vital contribution to the economy
• A 5% point increase in the disability employment rate would lead to an increase in GDP of £23bn by 2030

“Police Forces and their Disability Support Networks across the UK are looking forward to shining a purple light on disability on the 3rd December. A variety of awareness raising activities are planned with a focus on joining our private sector partners in celebrating the value of staff networks for disabled people.”

Rob Gurney
President, Disabled Police Association

“Supporting Operational Resilience” DPA Limited Duties Conference, 13th January 2016 Salvation Army Citadel, St Chads, Queensway, Birmingham

The Disabled Police Association recently held a national limited duties Conference entitled “Supporting operational resilience”. West Midlands Police hosted the event that was opened by David Wilkin, Director of Resources. The theme for the conference was “Improving Deployability” and was useful to participants in enabling them to better understand the subject of ‘X-Factor’ pay reductions. Attendees also received informative presentations from Slater and Gordon Solicitors, The Police Federation of England and Wales, members of the Disabled Police Association Executive Committee and representatives of West Midlands Police Force.

The meeting provided a fine opportunity to network and discuss some of the pressing issues facing disabled people in the police service across the UK resulting from the new Limited Duties regulations. All participants in attendance were able to contribute to a constructive debate around Limited Duties reforms. Those participating came from a variety of backgrounds ranging from serving police officers and staff, Federation and Union representatives through to HR specialists and lawyers. In essence the meeting provided a mechanism to pull together views and ideas as to how the police service might consider addressing the proposals outlined in the Winsor report.

Visiting speakers included Andy Fittes, General Secretary of the Police Federation; DPA Vice-Chair Andy Garrett; Chair of the Metropolitan Police Staff Association Simon Tovee; and Tristan Hallam and Simon Cuthbert of Slater and Gordon Solicitors providing legal opinion.

Our congratulations were extended to Mr Mick Braycotton of WMP who was recently elected as national “Vice-Chair for Police Staff” within the Disabled Police Association. DPA Chair Robert Gurney said: “I have no doubt that he will be an extremely valuable asset to the police service and especially the disabled communities that we support”.

You may note that the DPA exists with no financial provision whatsoever and we rely on the generosity of Chief Officer Teams supporting us by acting as host forces to our quarterly meetings as we move around the UK.

Robert Gurney
Chair of the Disabled Police Association