Draft Regulations laid before the Scottish Parliament under section 125(3A) of the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 for approval by resolution of the Scottish Parliament.
2023 No.
The Police Negotiating Board for Scotland (Constitution, Arbitration and Qualifying Cases) Regulations 2023
Made
Coming into force
The Scottish Ministers make the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by paragraph 5(7) of schedule 2A and section 125(1)(a) of the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 20121 and all other powers enabling them to do so.
In accordance with paragraph 5(6) of schedule 2A of that Act they have consulted with the Scottish Police Authority, the chief constable and persons representing the interests of constables (other than special constables) and police cadets.
In accordance with section 125(3A) of that Act, a draft of this instrument has been laid before and approved by resolution of the Scottish Parliament.
Citation, commencement and interpretation1
1
These Regulations may be cited as the Police Negotiating Board for Scotland (Constitution, Arbitration and Qualifying Cases) Regulations 2023 and come into force on 17 August 2023.
2
In these Regulations—
“the Act” means the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012,
“the constitution” means the constitution of PNBS brought into effect by regulation 2,
“PNBS” means the Police Negotiating Board for Scotland.
Constitution of PNBS2
The document entitled “Constitution of the Police Negotiating Board for Scotland” prepared by the Scottish Ministers in accordance with paragraph 5(1) of schedule 2A of the Act, dated 1 May 2023, and published on the Scottish Government’s website2, has effect under paragraph 5(7) of schedule 2A of the Act.
Disapplication of mandatory rules3
The mandatory rules in schedule 1 of the Arbitration (Scotland) Act 20103 (Scottish arbitration rules) do not apply to disputes submitted to arbitration in accordance with the constitution.
Qualifying cases4
1
This regulation specifies qualifying cases for the purposes of section 55D(2)(a) of the Act (steps following arbitration).
2
Subject to paragraph (3), there are to be a maximum of two qualifying cases in each reporting year, consisting of—
a
no more than one case concerning the annual pay award, which may include connected matters, and
b
no more than one other case concerning—
i
pay, allowances and expenses,
ii
public holidays and leave,
iii
hours of duty, or
iv
a combination of matters coming under heads (i), (ii) or (iii),
where these matters are not included in the same arbitrated representations as the annual pay award.
3
If PNBS—
a
makes no arbitrated representations in respect of a paragraph (2)(a) case within a reporting year (“year 1”), and
b
instead makes arbitrated representations in respect of that year 1 paragraph (2)(a) case during the following reporting year (“year 2”),
those representations are a qualifying case in respect of year 2, in addition to those qualifying cases specified in paragraph (2).
4
In this regulation—
“arbitrated representations” means representations to the Scottish Ministers under section 55B(1) of the Act (representations about pay etc.) in terms settled through arbitration,
“annual pay award” means the principal award of pay, allowances and expenses for each financial year,
“connected matters” means—
- i
public holidays and leave, or
- ii
hours of duty,
where these are included in the same arbitrated representations as the annual pay award,
- i
“reporting year” is the reporting year as defined in the constitution in accordance with section 55E(3) of the Act.
(This note is not part of the Regulations)