Police and Crime Commissioner urged to focus on improving officer morale

In the wake of his election success West Mercia's Police Federation has extended its congratulations – and said it hopes to meet with Mr Campion to outline priorities for his coming term.

The chair of the police fed, Steve Butler, said there should be focus on improving police officer morale and wellbeing.

He said: "We congratulate the PCC on his re-election and hope we can meet with him soon to discuss his plans for his next four-year term of office.

"While I know Mr Campion has commented on the results of our pay and morale survey which revealed our officers were reporting the second lowest levels of morale in the country, I would like to meet with him face to face to hear if he has any plans to help address our members’ concerns.

"His election campaign focussed on fighting crime, supporting victims and putting police back in the heart of communities – which is admirable since these are all issues that we, and all officers, would agree should be priorities. But for a police force to be properly effective, and efficient, it needs police officers to feel valued, respected and fairly paid for what their role entails.

"We fully appreciate that many of these things are out of Mr Campion’s control but there are ways in which he could help make a difference to police officers’ lives. We would really like to see him improve police officer morale and wellbeing during this next four-year term in office."

In a message to voters after the election, Mr Campion said: “I am proud of what I have achieved as your PCC over the last eight years, but I know there’s much more that needs to be done.”

Mr Burler said he agreed, adding: “Police officer morale and wellbeing should be a matter of urgency and high up on this list of things needed to be done.”