Shortly before the Christmas holidays we distributed a booklet that we had written called ‘Exploding the Myths’ to all 2270 or so members of the Metropolitan Inspectors Branch Board.

Since September 1994 when the Inspecting ranks became salaried confusion and misunderstanding have reigned in so far as what exactly the terms of the agreement were. The purpose of our 20 page publication is to demystify the working terms and conditions of the Inspecting ranks and with it we hope empower our members to achieve for themselves a better work/life balance.

The nationally funded  “Well-being at work” survey commissioned by the Inspectors Central Committee of the PFEW,  which a great many Met Inspectors and Chief Inspectors contributed to, highlighted a number of areas of concern and in particular the ‘long hours’ culture that exists within our Service and the need to improve your work/life balance.

‘Exploding the Myths’ is part of the Met IBB’s response to that survey and we hope that bringing all the information members need to make informed decisions about their own working life together in one easy read, will help reduce the stress levels and incidence of associated illnesses within our ranks.

Conflict is not, contrary to popular belief, a condition in which I delight but it is nonetheless gratifying to hear that our little booklet is already beginning to have an effect. I count in years the length of time I have been delivering my mantra about ‘On-Call’.

Time spent waiting whilst ‘On-Call’ is not Working Time and as such does not count towards the legal limits imposed by the Working Time Regulations. Yet it still presents a significant obstruction as to how and where members who are ‘On-Call’ can spend their own free, family or leisure time. Spending your time away from work subject to these often draconian limitations and conditions does not allow you to unwind and relax in the way you need to if you are to operate at your full potential whilst at work. Well being at work stems from being well away from work!

Finally in 2006 I managed to extract a concession from the MPS that only officers who volunteer can be placed ‘On-Call’. Negotiations are at an advanced stage at PNB to adopt this MPS policy/procedure as the ‘On-Call’ policy nationwide and yet it appears our members have to date been reluctant to assert their right not to volunteer. This aversion towards rocking the boat has in my opinion resulted in many of them being badly used and abused by their Superintending rank colleagues to provide cover which should have been provided from within the Superintending ranks.

Well now it appears the worm really is turning. Not only have I been informed of examples whereby the ‘Exploding the Myths’ booklet has been referred to by officers of Inspecting rank declining to be put onto ‘On-Call’ rosters, but also the Service or more particularly the Territorial Policing (TP) business group within the MPS are actively looking to extend the successful pilot of a 24 hour on-duty roster for Superintendents, to incorporate Chief Inspectors to cover as Late senior including weekends by April and then 24/7 cover to TP based Detective Inspectors by the early Summer.

Once this expansion is achieved, ‘On-Call’, at least for TP based Inspecting ranks, should be a thing of the past along with thankfully, the need for individual or groups of Inspectors to come into conflict with their managers, well at least on this issue.

Enlightenment on all sides is it appears resulting in small but nonetheless significant steps towards improving not only the health, welfare and well-being of my members but importantly for us all their performance when they are actually at work thus enhancing the quality of service to the public.