Police Negotiating Board

The Police Negotiating Board (PNB) was established by Act of Parliament in 1980 to negotiate the hours of duty; leave; pay and allowances; the issue, use and return of police clothing, personal equipment and accoutrements; and pensions of United Kingdom police officers, and to make recommendations on these matters to the Home Secretary, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and Scottish Ministers. It is governed by a Constitution .

The parties to negotiation are the Official Side , comprising representatives of the Secretaries of State, police authorities and chief police officers, and the Staff Side comprising representatives of the police staff associations. Each Side appoints a Side Secretary who is the principal contact (and principal negotiator) on all matters relating to the PNB. The PNB has a full board - comprising 22 members on each Side - which considers matters affecting all ranks, and three smaller standing committees dealing with matters which affect specific ranks, ie the "federated ranks" (constable to chief inspector, including cadets), superintendent ranks, and chief officers.

The PNB has an Independent Chair and Deputy Chair appointed by the Prime Minister, whose role is to supply a neutral, independent voice in the negotiations and to assist in bringing the parties to agreement, through support, informal mediation and conciliation. It also has an Independent Secretariat based in the Office of Manpower Economics (OME), London, which makes administrative arrangements for meetings and researches and assesses data on pay and other matters. Since 2001 the Chair is required to make an Annual Report on the work of the PNB to the Prime Minister.

PNB meetings are normally held on a quarterly basis - more often if required - at the offices of the OME. If the parties fail to agree on a particular issue, the matter can ultimately be referred to arbitration by the Police Arbitration Tribunal , which operates under the auspices of the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service.

The PNB is registered with the Information Commissioner as a Data Controller. Its registration number is Z5900419.