I met with Jim Gray, Chairman of the Northumbria Police Federation, we focused on two main issues, police pay and recent changes to the Crown Prosecution Service Director’s Guidance on Charging.

In addition to a real term pay increase, I support a fair pay mechanism which is truly independent of government interference and delivers a binding outcome to restore trust and faith in the police pay process. I have raised this with the Home Secretary and await her response.

Recent changes to the Crown Prosecution Service Director’s Guidance on Charging will mean additional work for officers just to get a case to the Crown Prosecution Service for review. They will now need to examine and redact documents, videos, mobile phone data, and third-party material, just to get a charging decision. I have put this point to the Attorney General and asked her what discussions she had with relevant stakeholders prior to implementing the changes.