Lancashire Police Federation

27/03/2026

A Family Law surgery is being held af Federation Office, Police HQ on Wednesday 8th April 2026.



Lund Bennett Law is a dedicated Family Law Solicitors for Lancashire Police Federation.
To make an appointment with the Family Solicitor please telephone 01772 584 556 or email lancashire@polfed.org

All federation members, their family and police staff are offered:

A free initial 60-minute consultation
A reduced fixed fee Divorce, and
Discounted hourly rates.

The family law solicitor specialises in all areas of matrimonial law including divorce, finances and pension on divorce, child arrangements, cohabitation and civil partnership disputes.

They offer monthly in person surgeries at the Federation Office. As well as Teams appointments or telephone call appointments at any time – just call 0161 924 0079. Whichever is most convenient for you.

25/03/2026

Chiefs’ rest day proposals are a serious mistake that risk officer welfare and public safety, according to the Police Federation of England and Wales.

The PFEW has issued a stark warning to the Government not to accept proposals from police chiefs that would make it cheaper and easier for forces to intrude on the vital rest days officers need to keep communities safe.

Police officers are currently entitled to a minimum four hours’ compensation at time and a half when they are required to work on a cancelled rest day or bank holiday, recognising the disruption to protected rest and family commitments.

In its submission to the Government-controlled Police Remuneration Review Body, police chiefs have proposed to remove that safeguard with officers paid at time and one-third, calculated in 15-minute increments, for the exact time worked.

The submission also seeks to tighten the rules around how cancelled rest days are re-rostered.

In response, the Federation is launching ‘Hands Off Our Rest Days’ as part of its wider Copped Enough campaign for better pay, working conditions and support for police officers.

Police Federation National Chair Tiff Lynch said: “This weekend we’ll see further protests in London and that guarantees rest days for officers in the capital and beyond will be disrupted."

"At a time when policing is getting more dangerous and when thousands are choosing to leave, chief constables are proposing not to strengthen protections for their men and women but to weaken them.”

National Secretary John Partington said: “It is difficult to see how any Chief Constable who truly supports their officers could believe making it cheaper to cancel rest days is the right approach. They should scrap these plans now.”

“Policing continues to function largely because officers repeatedly step up, cancelling rest days, missing family time and working through fatigue. Making it easier and cheaper to intrude on that rest time is not a solution. It is a gamble with officer welfare and public safety."

24/03/2026

The three largest Group Insurance companies serving the Police Family have pledged to back the STEP - Su***de Trauma Education Prevention - campaign and share vital su***de prevention resources with their 200,000 members.

Officer Insurance Cover by Everywhen, Gallagher and Philip Williams & Co are all supporting the national initiative, it has been announced, as the STEP campaign marks its first anniversary.

This will mean officers who are members of the Group Insurance Schemes provided by these companies will be able to access the resources and aims of the STEP campaign – including the Stay Alive app, developed by the Grassroots Su***de Prevention Charity.

Hampshire Police Federation Chair Spencer Wragg founded the STEP campaign last March – working with the team from award winning media agency Martis Media.

Spencer, who came close to taking his own life seven years ago, is passionate about supporting police officers and staff when they are at their lowest ebb, and wanted to do something impactful that reduced the stigma of mental health problems.

Spencer said: “We are thrilled that these large companies are supporting STEP and promoting it to all of their participants in the Group Insurance Scheme. This not only gets the message out to police officers and staff within those schemes, but also to retired officers, a group we haven't necessarily been able to reach directly before.

“Some retired officers will follow Police Federation accounts on social media. But this is a direct link promoting the Stay Alive app, promoting the principles of STEP, and trying to reduce the stigma of talking about mental health.”

Figures published by the Police Federation of England and Wales show more than 100 police officers and staff have died by su***de between 2022 and 2025. At least 70 police officers have died during that time and there have been more than 200 attempted su***des.

It is believed 47 of 70 police officer su***des and 173 of 236 attempted su***des between 2022 and 2025 are attributable to officers involved in misconduct or criminal investigations against them. In 2025 12 of 13 police officer su***des involved officers under investigation.

Spencer continued: “The three insurance companies are already big advocates for policing, but this issue isn't about finances, it's about saving lives. Out of those 200,000 people, if we just help one person we will have achieved our aim.

“I always hope that no one needs the Stay Alive app, but the reality is that someone will. They might need it right now, they might need it tomorrow, they might need it in a month’s time – sometimes people don’t know what's coming their way.

“Life happens, things get thrown in your way, I know that, I've been there. This gives people an opportunity to be able to reach out. And it doesn't matter who to – if they reach out to the app or to a friend or colleague. We just want people to talk about how they're feeling and seek the help that they desperately need – then maybe we can save a life.”

Looking back on the first anniversary of the campaign, Spencer said: "When you look from the amount of progress that we've made in highlighting su***de and the importance of su***de prevention within policing over the past 12 months, I think it's been incredible. We’ve achieved so much since last March.

"But we need to acknowledge that su***des have continued to happen. There's been some amazing work and we've spread the su***de-prevention message far and wide, we are trying to help as many people as possible, but the reality is that su***de is continuing. Sadly, only a few weeks ago, we lost someone else within policing. We know there is still a lot more work to do going forward."

From starting off in solely one police force - Hampshire - in March 2025, the campaign has now gone national and international. Unison Police Staff Union and the Police Federation of England and Wales have officially adopted the campaign as policy.

The campaign and its aims, goals and underlying message has also gone global with South Australia Police and the umbrella EuroCop organisation (including police unions/staff associations from Spain, Greece, Ireland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark) wanting to discover more about it.

The STEP campaign is calling on forces to introduce mandatory Trim referrals following a police officer or staff attending a su***de and calls on forces to better collect data on police officer and staff su***de/attempted su***de so we can better measure the extent of the issue and wants to encourage colleagues to talk about the taboo subject and not be concerned about that.

The campaign also promotes the Stay Alive app, developed by the Grassroots Su***de Prevention Charity, which provides tailored information to people in crisis.

It is currently estimated that around 50,000 police officers and staff have access to the app via their work mobile phones. But Spencer hopes more will follow suit.

If police officers and staff are struggling with their mental health, it’s important to talk to someone, anyone, it doesn’t matter who. You will never regret reaching out.

You are not alone, and that there are people there to help. This includes, for immediacy, the Mental Health Crisis Line (call 0300 131 2789) and Samaritans (116 123).

22/03/2026

Devastating news as Kent Police announce the on duty death of PC Bradley Corke.

Thoughts of all at Lancashire Police Federation are with Bradley's family, friends and close colleagues.

All at Kent Police Federation are devastated at the news of the on duty death of our colleague PC Bradley Corke.

Bradley, 27, died on Saturday following injuries sustained in a road traffic collision as he travelled to an emergency call in Swanley late on Thursday evening.

Our thoughts - and those of colleagues across the county and country - are with Bradley's family, friends and close colleagues.

Neil Mennie, Chair of Kent Police Federation, said: "We are all absolutely heartbroken to learn of this news.

"Bradley was a popular colleague who will be much missed and we will be doing all we can to support his family and close colleagues at this time.

"Policing is a family and words cannot describe the pain we are all feeling and how this news will affect us in the days, weeks and months ahead.

"This sad incident serves as a horrific example of the risks police officers face and how police officers can sadly make the ultimate sacrifice as they strive to keep the public safe."

Bradley served with Kent Police since May 2022. He was based in Tonbridge and spent his police service in the towns of West Kent.

Our thoughts also remain with Bradley's colleague who was critically injured in the incident.

If any officers are in need of support, please contact a line manager, Kent Police Federation or a Federation Representative.

19/03/2026

The new Taser 10 will give officers more protection and tactical options to deal with aggression, the Chair of Lancashire Police Federation has said, as assaults on officers continue to rise.

Today the BBC published figures showing that an average of 134 officers a day are assaulted in England and Wales. In the year ending March 2025, there were 47,522 assaults recorded against police officers, about a quarter of which resulted in the officer being injured.

In Lancashire alone, well over 1,000 assaults were recorded in the year 2024-25, up from 600 assaults in 2019.

The BBC also revealed there were 14,768 convictions for Assault Against an Emergency Services Worker in the year to June 2025, a 12% increase in two years.

Lancashire Police Federation Chair Martin Midgley welcomed the issue of the new Taser 10, which can fire up to 10 single-shot cartridges without reloading and operates at a range of up to 45ft, saying that it “offers officers more protection and tactical options to deal with the aggression they are faced with daily”.

Martin said that, like many other officers, he had been assaulted over the course of his career. He said: “I have been faced by a man wielding a knife, I have been spat on, headbutted, kicked, punched and verbally abused. I have attended groups fighting with weapons as a single-crewed officer, knowing that backup isn’t anywhere nearby.

“Unfortunately, I am not unique: every officer will be able to tell you of similar situations they have faced. Many officers, like myself, will look back on incidents they have attended, where it’s only by pure luck that they haven’t been seriously assaulted. The impact this can have on officers’ mental wellbeing is significant. To go home to your children with visible injuries, or to battle with the emotions and trauma – that is if you are lucky enough to be coming home at all.”

Martin called on the Government to examine these figures and take positive action: “Not pay lip service to it, but increase funding to forces and make meaningful changes to police pay and conditions. Simply put, we need more officers on the frontline, and they need to have better pay and conditions so that forces can retain them.”

He continued: “The public deserves a properly funded, high-quality police service. But while policing continues to be underfunded by the Government, we have a stretched frontline that is buckling under the pressure, workload and stresses put on them.

“Police officers come to work to help those in need, fight crime and make communities safer. No one should expect or accept being assaulted as part of their job. Irrespective of the level of assault, the courts should be applying the harshest possible sentences to act as a deterrent.”

17/03/2026

Ear pieces could be damaging the hearing of officers, research suggests.

The devices worn as radio and BWV accessories are capable of high sound levels so they can be heard over background noise.

More than 45% of ear piece wearing officers reported experiencing signs of temporary hearing loss immediately after using an ear piece, according to the research by the University of Manchester.

Furthermore, it found ear piece use accompanied by immediate after-effects more than doubled an officer’s risk of having tinnitus, and raised the risk of having diagnosed hearing loss by 93%.

Researchers said the symptoms were much more common in the ear with the ear piece than the opposite ear, increasing the likelihood that hearing problems were directly linked to use of the devices.

The Police Federation said officers have repeatedly raised the issue of hearing loss after using ear pieces.

Professor Chris Plack, of the University of Manchester, said it is not unusual for people to experience temporary hearing loss after being in nightclubs or concerts, but it is “concerning” for officers to be experiencing such effects in the workplace.

Lead researcher Dr Hannah Guest, of the University of Manchester, told the Press Association: “We were surprised that ear piece use with after-effects was so strongly linked to long-term hearing symptoms.

“The fact that symptoms tended to appear in the exposed ear, rather than the opposite ear, is a particularly telling finding.”

Dr Guest said laboratory hearing tests are now needed to confirm whether ear piece users have measurable differences between their ears.

Published in Trends In Hearing, the respondents were members of a long-term project on police health at Imperial College London.

Police Federation health and safety lead Richie Murray told PA: “We have significant concerns regarding the potential for hearing loss linked to the prolonged use of ear pieces, high audio volume levels particularly within shared estate environments and the inconsistent application of hearing assessments across forces.

“The issues highlighted in this report echo what frontline officers have repeatedly raised with us.

“The health, safety, and wellbeing of our members remain our highest priority.

“We will continue to monitor this situation closely and work collaboratively with forces to ensure appropriate safeguards are implemented to better protect officers’ hearing.”

Inspector Andrea Shoetan, president of the Disabled Police Association, said ear pieces are being worn more than ever.

She said: “As a serving officer of 20 years, the use of ear pieces has changed dramatically within that time due to the introduction of body-worn video cameras.

“Forces encourage officers and staff to use their ear pieces when they are in public to prevent redaction being required from body-worn video footage prior to court.”

Insp Shoetan said officers work in noisy environments and have to turn up their ear pieces as a result.

“The volume of the radio will be turned up to maximum with sound going straight into the ear canal from the ear piece to try and hear radio communications, so the potential risk of exceeded daily noise levels increases,” she added.

13/03/2026

Eight out of 10 front-line police officers surveyed said they oppose the Government's Licence to Practise proposals.

The licence-to-practise scheme is based on the system for nurses and doctors, in which professional licences are revalidated every three to five years after medics demonstrate they have refreshed their skills and completed necessary training.

It is a central proposal in Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s white paper to “raise standards and promote professional development”.

Two thirds (65 per cent) of 3,261 Police Federation members asked said they strongly opposed the licences; 15 per cent said they “somewhat” opposed them; 10 per cent supported the plan, and the remainder were neutral or did not express a view.

Police officers are barred from taking industrial action, but more than half (56 per cent) said the reforms would make them “less likely to continue working” in the service. Just 4 per cent said it would make them more likely to stay.

Under the plans, officers would need to pass interviews on their professional development, qualifications, activities and achievements. Those who failed would be given support, such as mentoring, but successive failures would result in the loss of their licence.

The Home Office has not clarified how often officers would need to renew their licences, but it said the plan would “ensure officers are best equipped with problem-solving and technological skills they need to catch more criminals”.

09/03/2026

Policing is in crisis, and the Government must pay officers properly to stop them leaving in their droves, the Chair of Lancashire Police Federation has said.

Martin Midgley said that he was backing the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW)’s call for a minimum 7% annual pay rise for each of the next three years.

In its report to the Police Remuneration Review Body for 2026, PFEW said the multi-year pay settlement was essential to improve retention, morale and operational capability. It also called for a raft of improvements to officer conditions, including increased allowances and annual leave.

By contrast, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) is supporting a 3.5% pay rise if it is fully funded by the Government, or a below-inflation 2.5% if it is not.

Martin said: “The Federation is asking the Police Remuneration Review Body for a fair pay rise that recognises the unique nature of policing. The Government needs to recognise the challenges that officers face daily and what is being asked of them.

“According to the Police Covenant, approximately 115 police officers and staff in England and Wales are assaulted every day just for doing their jobs. Officers witness significant amounts of traumatic incidents, while carrying workloads that have increased by 32% per constable since 2015.

“Yet, even knowing these stark figures and the challenges faced by policing, the NPCC is recommending a below-inflation pay rise of 2.5% unless the Government fully funds it. This is a real-terms pay cut to every officer.”

Martin added that, while he acknowledged that Chief Constables were trying to make savings, the police service was wasting millions of pounds on training and equipment for new recruits who leave within a short period of time.

He said: “There is also an increase in officers with years of service leaving policing for better-paid jobs with less pressure and risk. Policing is in crisis. The Government must act to retain new officers and stop experienced officers from leaving in their droves. Pay and conditions are key in this.”

The PFEW is also calling for:

- Full recognition of the ‘P Factor’ in police pay, to properly reflect the risks, restrictions and obligations unique to policing.

- Fewer pay points for PCs to simplify progression and improve competitiveness, including removing the lowest pay points to reflect frontline expectations from day one.

- Increase the unsocial hours allowance from 10% to 20%, for work between 8pm and 6am on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

- Acting up and temporary promotion payments should be paid from day one and made pensionable.

- The maximum London and South East allowance should be paid as standard.

- Increased annual leave, with any unused leave to be paid.

- A new long-service leave and recuperation leave.

- Workload payments to Inspectors and Chief Inspectors should be extended, with additional pay for hours worked beyond 48 per week, pending a full review of the 1994 PNB Agreement.

02/03/2026

Police officers should have a minimum 7% annual pay rise for each of the next three years, the Police Federation of England and Wales has said.

In its report to the Police Remuneration Review Body for 2026, the PFEW said the multi-year pay settlement was essential to improve retention, morale and operational capability.

By contrast, the National Police Chiefs’ Council is supporting a 3.5% pay rise if it is fully funded by the Government, or a below-inflation 2.5% if it is not.

The PFEW is also calling for:

- Full recognition of the ‘P Factor’ in police pay, to properly reflect the risks, restrictions and obligations unique to policing.

- Fewer pay points for constables to simplify progression and improve competitiveness, including removing the lowest pay points to reflect frontline expectations from day one.

- Increase the unsocial hours allowance from 10% to 20%, for work between 8pm and 6am on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

- Acting up and temporary promotion payments should be paid from day one and made pensionable.

- The maximum London and South East allowance should be paid as standard.

- Increased annual leave, with any unused leave to be paid.

- A new long-service leave and recuperation leave.

- Workload payments to Inspectors and Chief Inspectors should be extended, with additional pay for hours worked beyond 48 per week, pending a full review of the 1994 PNB Agreement.

27/02/2026

Sad news as West Midlands Police announce the off duty death of Detective Constable Tayyab Malik. The thoughts of Lancashire Police Federation are with his family, friends and close colleagues at this time.

DC TAYYAB MALIK: FEDERATION RESPONSE

West Midlands Police Federation has extended its sympathies to the family, friends and colleagues of a Force detective who died on Tuesday afternoon.

DC Tayyab Malik was 35.

Jess Davies, chair of West Midlands Police Federation, said: “Our thoughts are with Tayyab’s loved ones at this heartbreaking time.

READ MORE HERE:
https://polfed.org/westmids/news-and-events/news/2026/dc-tayyab-malik-federation-response/

25/02/2026

Remembering PC Ian Woodward of Lancashire Constabulary who was killed on duty this day in 1987. Ian was shot dead challenging a suspect armed with a shotgun.

23/02/2026

The Police Unity Tour is coming up in August

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1PksQGzPHJ/?mibextid=wwXIfr