Chairman raises concerns at Parliament

Chairman raises concerns over pay parity, pension ages, weight of equipment, fitness standards and officer numbers at Parliament

Defence Police Federation Chairman Eamon Keating is highlighting to MPs the danger to the safety and security of the country from the removal of firearms officer posts from the Ministry of Defence Police. 

Eamon recently met MP Luke Pollard, Member of Parliament for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, whose constituency covers the naval base at Devonport.  

“We met Luke to have a specific conversation about what’s going on in the Devonport area and what’s going on with us the Ministry of Defence Police in general,” said Eamon. 

“We explained to him our concerns about pay parity, pension ages, weight of equipment, fitness standards and most pertinently the reduction in our numbers.

“I think at the moment the Government is genuinely looking to move towards a removal of 200 firearms posts, perhaps 200 plus from our force, which might not seem a lot to the average member of the public but obviously 200 posts, that’s probably bigger than some force’s whole firearms capability.”

Eamon believes that such a reduction would represent a real security concern for the bases covered by Federation members – and the country, when you look how MDP officers are utilised as part of Operation Temperer. 

Eamon added: “It’s a significant reduction in firearms officers for us – the removal of these posts will reduce security. Of that I have absolutely no doubt.”

Luke Pollard was “incredibly interested about the issues in Devonport”, said Eamon “but he is also interested in the impact of police officer reductions holistically”.

Eamon said: “He has asked us to keep him informed of anything that we think he would need to know and he’s committed to support us on issues around pensions, so we’ll take that forward.”

DPF HQ