Chief constables have decided not to push for the introduction of compulsory severance for police officers.
However, national Police Federation chairman Steve White has given the news a cautious welcome and has warned the issue has not gone away for good.
The National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) had been expected to debate the issue today (28 October) but brought the matter forward and decided not to revisit the option of compulsory severance as a way of coping with further funding cuts.
Chief Constable Sara Thornton, NPCC chair, said: "Chief constables carefully considered the issue of compulsory severance for police officers in light of the likelihood of further significant cuts to police budgets. Chief constables' preferred approach is to continue to modernise terms and conditions of both officers and staff.
"On the information known at this stage, chief constables are not seeking to revisit the Police Arbitration Tribunal decision on compulsory severance from 2014. This position might need to be reviewed in response to the police settlement in the spending review."
Steve White has said, however, that the police service 'is by no means out of the woods yet'.
"A proper debate around police force funding and the structures of forces still needs to be had and we will ensure that the Police Federation is at the heart of those debates and continue to apply pressure so that this arbitrary measure that would have fundamentally changed the Office of Constable should never see the light of day," he explained.
