Staffordshire branch chair Phil Jones has accepted a regional role with the Police Federation and will be handing over the reins to a new chair early next month.
Phil, who has been the Staffordshire branch chair for three years, will represent Region 3 - Warwickshire, West Mercia, West Midlands and Staffordshire - in his new role.
He said Staffordshire branch members would be invited to take part in an election to vote in a new chair in the coming weeks.
He said: “My new role will be supporting the region and being a voice for the chairs, secretaries and branch boards - the conduit between them and Leatherhead where the national Federation is based.
“I will be taking the views of the region to Leatherhead and make sure they are heard.”
He said he was looking forward to using the experience and knowledge gained in the Staffordshire role to his new position.
Phil said: “They key thing when I took over as chair at Staffordshire was around communication. I think it is critical that whatever comes from the centre is communicated in a timely manner, is relevant and gets out there so the members know exactly what's happening and it isn’t just chip paper.
“The other thing is visibility. When we are visible we get a greater audience and with a greater audience there is greater feedback around what is relevant to the members as well.
“Sitting at the national table, we have access to workstreams so hopefully that will help give us the ability to work alongside the National Police Chiefs’ Council, influence and hopefully make a difference with those work packages nationally which is a really good thing.”
His new role officially begins on 1 June and he expects a new chair to be in office by early next month for a short period of transition before he fully takes on the new position.
Phil acknowledged he would miss being chair at Staffordshire and said he was proud of the achievements of the last few years.
He said: “It has been a real privilege and honour and I think we have made a real contribution to members and achieved some really good things like the wellbeing bus, the Thrive mental health and wellbeing app and increased visibility and accessibility as a branch.
“I think we are in a really strong place for a new chair to take over and the foundations have been laid for continued success.”
Phil joined Staffordshire Police in January 1998 on response and became a firearms officer in 2003. He served on armed response vehicles for a number of years before promotion in 2008 saw him take on a role as an operational sergeant with additional duties as a hostage negotiator and CBRN tactical adviser. He first became a Fed rep in 2011.
