§ 7.—(1) Policewomen shall be disregarded for the purposes of paragraphs 3, 4, 6, 10 and 12 of the Schedule to the Police Act, 1919, so however that a policewoman who is qualified, otherwise than by virtue of Part I of this Schedule, to be elected as a member of a board, conference or committee or to be a member of a conference or an elector of a member of a conference or committee shall not be disqualified therefor by this sub-paragraph.
§ (2) A policewoman who, apart from this sub-paragraph, would by virtue of the provisions of paragraph 2 of this Schedule or of the foregoing sub-paragraph take or vacate office as a member of a board on the date of the coming into force of those provisions, shall not do so by virtue only of those provisions until immediately before the first meeting of that board which is held after the first election taking place after that date for membership of any board of the branch in question of the Federation.
§ 8. Paragraph 11 of the Schedule to the Police Act, 1919 (which requires that persons who represent a force as members of a conference shall be members of that force) shall not apply to policewomen elected in pursuance of subparagraph (2) of paragraph 3 of this Schedule; and paragraph 23 of that Schedule (which provides for leave and expenses in respect of attendance at meetings of boards and other bodies) shall apply to meetings of electors in pursuance of that sub-paragraph as it applies to meetings of a board.
§ 9. The provisos to paragraphs 17 and 21 to the Schedule to the Police Act, 1919 (which contain spent transitional provisions relating to elections and meetings) are hereby repealed."
§ The noble Lord said: I beg to move Amendment No. 4, to insert the new Schedule. I must apologise both for the length of this new Schedule and for its detail, but it is all completely necessary. I must apologise also for the need to deal briefly—I hope very briefly—with each of the paragraphs. It is not, of course, so much for your Lordships' benefit, but some of the paragraphs may, I hope, be a little clearer to laymen after my explanations than they were before; and these explanations may have to be read by police officers, who will wish to understand them quite readily.
§
The Schedule is an additional consequence of the acceptance of the new clause. The first paragraph is concerned
1451
with the interpretation of the first part of the Schedule. In certain parts of the Schedule—for example, paragraph 3 and sub-paragraph (2) of paragraph 6—there is a reference to matters being prescribed or to a power to make regulations. Subparagraph 1 (e) is to the effect that
'prescribed' means prescribed by regulations, and 'regulations' means regulations made by the Secretary of State after consultation with the three central committees"—
of the Police Federation—
…sitting together at a joint committee.
§ The regulations are not required to be made by statutory instrument, and they will not be laid before Parliament. Part I of the Schedule is drafted in terms of policewomen of the rank of constable, but sub-paragraph 1 (2) provides that Part I should also be applicable to women of the rank of sergeant and inspector.
§ Paragraph 2 provides for the election of additional women members of the branch boards. It is to the effect that if, in the force in question, there are one or two women constables, sergeants or inspectors, the one, or, as the case may be, the senior of the two shall be a member of the constables', sergeants' or inspectors' branch board; and that if the number of women constables, sergeants or inspectors is three or more, they shall elect one of their number to be a member of the relevant board. It is unlikely that any police force will ever have only one or two women constables, but there are a number who have only one or two women sergeants or inspectors. Seniority depends on the length of service in the relevant rank. The provision about the number of police officers who are to be elected to the branch boards by the male members of the force is contained in paragraph 3 of the Schedule to the Act of 1919.
§ Paragraph 3 (1) of the new Schedule is to the effect that in the Metropolitan Police Force the women constables, sergeants and inspectors shall each elect four of their number, or such greater number as may be prescribed, to be members of the central conferences. This is in accordance with existing arrangements, under which the members of the force, in their four districts, elect four women constables, sergeants and inspectors to be delegates to the central con- 1452 ferences. In future, they will be full voting delegates, but otherwise the present position will be unchanged. The provision that greater numbers of women delegates may be prescribed has been inserted in the Bill in case there is a change in the proportion of women officers to men officers, and it will then justify an increase at a later time. No increase, of course, can be made except after consultation with the Joint Central Council of the Police Federation.
§ Paragraph 3 (2) provides that the women members of the branch boards from the other forces shall, for the purpose of electing members of the central conferences, be grouped together in the prescribed manner, and that the members of each group shall elect from among their number the prescribed number of persons to be members of the central conferences. It is intended to prescribe arrangements similar to those which are already in existence, but in future the additional women members of the branch boards will meet in the eight districts and each district will elect one constable, one sergeant and one inspector to be delegates to their respective central conferences. When combined with the Metropolitan delegates, there will be, as at present, a total of twelve of each as delegates. Here also there will be power to prescribe, after consultation with the Joint Central Committee, an increasing number of women delegates if that should be found to be justified.
§ Paragraph 4 provides that the policewomen delegates to each of the three central conferences shall elect one of their number to be a member of the central committee for that rank. Paragraph 12 of the Schedule to the Police Act of 1919 provides that there shall be central committees of six of each rank. The effect of this provision, therefore, is that there will in future be, in addition, one of each rank on the central committees elected by the women delegates.
§ Paragraph 5 provides that the women members of the branch boards, conferences and committees, shall be additional to the members holding office under the Schedule to the Police Act, 1919. Paragraph 6 (1) provides that the provisions of paragraphs 15 and 16 of the Schedule to the 1919 Act, which ensure that elections shall be by secret ballot and that each elector may give 1453 one vote and no more for each candidate, will apply to the elections of policewomen members. Paragraph 17 of the Schedule to the 1919 Act, which is applied by paragraph 6 (1) of this Amendment, provides that branch boards may make regulations about the mode of election of members of the board and of the delegates to the central conference returned by the board, and as to the filling of casual vacancies. It further provides that the central committees may make regulations as to the mode of election of their members by the central conferences.
§ Paragraph 6 (2) indicates that the Secretary of State may make regulations about the holding of elections for the selection of women delegates to the central conferences. This provision is necessary because there is no other body that can appropriately determine these matters, the delegates not being chosen by a particular branch board or to represent a particular force. Sub-paragraph (3) contains the provision that, except in so far as the Secretary of State may by regulations applicable to the election of women delegates to the central conferences prescribe otherwise, the election of the women members of branch boards, central, conferences and committees are to take place on the same occasion as the corresponding elections held under the Schedule to the 1919 Act.
§ The second Part of the Schedule contains these provisions. While Clause 2 of this Bill provides for the election of additional women members of the branch hoards, conferences and committees, there is no bar to a woman being chosen as a member by the male electors. This is made quite clear by paragraph 7, which provides that a policewoman who is qualified, other than by virtue of the provisions 'I have already described, to he elected as a member of the board, shall not be disqualified by this subparagraph. The sub-paragraph also provides that policewomen shall be disregarded for the purpose of certain paragraphs of the Schedule to the 1919 Act.
§ These paragraphs and their effect is as follows. The first is that, in paragraph 3, policewomen are not in future to be taken into account in determining the numbers of representatives of the branch boards to be elected by the men. So in some cases there will now be a 1454 change in those numbers. Secondly, paragraph 4. Policewomen will not have the right to vote with men at elections for the branch boards. They will elect their own additional women members. Thirdly, paragraph 6. The women members of the branch boards will not have the right to vote in the election of delegates to the central conference. They will elect their own representatives at the district elections.
§ Under paragraph 10, policewomen are not to be taken into account in reckoning the authorised strength of the Force—the strength which is relevant in determining the number of delegates to the central conferences. The effect of this will be a small reduction in the number of delegates to the central conferences elected by policemen, but the delegates that the women will in future send there will have voting rights. The final paragraph, paragraph 12, provides that policewomen delegates at the central conferences will not have a right to take part in the elections of members of the central committees under the Act of 1919. This is because they will, under this Bill, elect their own member for each of the three central committees.
§ The second section of paragraph 7 provides that a policewoman who would otherwise take or vacate office as a member of a branch board when the Act comes into force shall not do so by virtue of the provisions of paragraph 2 or of paragraph 7 of the Schedule until immediately before the first meeting of the board which is held subsequent to the first election to the Board which takes place after the operation of this Act. The effect of this provision is that the new arrangements for policewomen will come into effect with the next annual elections, and not before. This will prevent any disruption of the membership of the branch boards before the annual election.
§ Paragraph 8 provides that paragraph 11 of the Schedule to the Police. Act of 1919, which lays down that a delegate to a central conference must he a member of the police force which he represents, shall not apply to the policewomen delegates to the central conferences elected in the several districts. This is because these delegates will not represent individual forces as such, but will represent districts. It also provides that 1455 paragraph 23 of the Schedule to the 1919 Act, which provides for leave and expenses in respect of attendance at meetings of branch boards and other bodies, shall apply to meetings of the policewomen electors of the delegates of the central conferences. The last paragraph in the Schedule provides that the provisos to paragraphs 17 and 21 of the Schedule to the 1919 Act, which are spent, shall be repealed. My Lords, I beg to move.
§
Amendment moved—
After Clause 2, insert the said Schedule.—(Lord Stonham.)
§ 7.19 p.m.
EARL BATHURSTI thank the noble Lord for his explanation of the Schedule which he is asking your Lordships to accept. That explanation was necessary because of the complicated legal language that the amendments to the Schedule need. I am sure that all members of the police forces will be grateful for this explanation that the noble Lord has given. I commend the Amendment to your Lordships, and ask for your Lordships' support.
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ LORD STONHAMThis Amendment in the Title is consequential, of course, on the addition of the new clause about the special representation of policewomen. With the acceptance of the new clause providing for these arrangements, naturally the Title of the Bill had to be widened in order that it should become an Act to amend the law relating to the Police Federation. I beg to move.
§
Amendment moved—
In the Title, line 1, leave out "membership of".—(Lord Stonham.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Title, as amended, agreed to.
§ House resumed.