City of London Police
Federation Explained (2026)
Role, Rank Coverage & Branch Structure in the Square Mile Force
What is the City of London Police Federation?
The City of London Police Federation is the local branch of the Police Federation of England and Wales covering the City of London Police. Like every other branch, it represents officers from the rank of Constable up to and including Chief Inspector, negotiating and influencing on their behalf with the force's Chief Constable, senior officers, and — where relevant — the force's governance body. What makes it distinctive is scale: City of London Police is one of the smallest territorial forces in England and Wales, policing the Square Mile financial district rather than a large geographic area, so its Federation branch operates with a comparatively small Federated membership set against an identical structural template to much larger forces.
Who It Represents
Rank Coverage Within the City of London Police
The City of London Police Federation covers exactly the same rank band as every other branch across England and Wales: Constable, Sergeant, and Inspector (including Chief Inspector). These are the "federated ranks" defined nationally, and every serving officer in the City of London Police who holds one of them falls within the branch's remit.
Superintendents and Chief Superintendents in the City of London Police are represented separately, by the Police Superintendents' Association, not by the Federation branch. The City of London Police Federation's role begins and ends at Chief Inspector, exactly as it does everywhere else in the country.
Where It Sits in the National Structure
The City of London Police Federation is not a standalone body — it is a constituent branch of the Police Federation of England and Wales, the statutory staff association established by the Police Act 1919. It represents its members at force, regional and national level, feeding local concerns upward through the Federation's wider structure in exactly the way the 42 other territorial force branches do.
Within that national structure, the branch sits inside Region 8 (London), alongside the Metropolitan Police Federation. Regional groupings like this allow branches covering the same part of the country to coordinate on shared issues, even though the City of London Police and the Met are entirely separate forces with very different sizes and operational remits.
Structural Position
Branch Structure
The Branch Council
Local workplace representatives, elected by their fellow officers, sit on the Branch Council. This is the base layer of the branch's democratic structure — the body that channels the day-to-day experience of officers on the ground into the Federation's decision-making.
The Branch Board
A Branch Board — typically comprising a Chair, Secretary and Treasurer — is elected from the Branch Council. This is a structural description of the role, not a claim about who currently holds it; office-holders change and this page does not name individuals.
Not a Full-Time Role
Workplace representatives carry out this Federation work alongside their normal policing duties. For most reps on the Branch Council and Branch Board, representing colleagues is additional to — not instead of — their regular role within the City of London Police. This mirrors how Federation branches operate across the rest of England and Wales, where only a small number of national-level roles are full-time.
What the Branch Actually Does
Day to day, the Branch Board is the negotiation and consultative link between officers and the force's senior management. It engages directly with the Chief Constable and senior officers on matters affecting the federated ranks — pay, welfare, workload, and conditions of service — and, where relevant, with the force's governance body.
Beyond collective negotiation, the branch handles individual representation: supporting officers through misconduct and grievance processes, welfare concerns, and the everyday problems that federated-rank officers bring to their local rep. This individual casework sits alongside the branch's collective role, and is the part of the job most officers actually interact with.
The Square Mile Context
City of London Police is one of the smallest territorial forces in England and Wales. Rather than policing a large geographic area, it is responsible for the "Square Mile" — the City of London's financial district — giving it a workforce, and therefore a Federated membership, that is far smaller than a force like the Metropolitan Police.
That scale is directly relevant to how the branch operates. The Branch Council and Branch Board follow the same structural template used everywhere else, but with fewer officers to elect representatives, fewer day-to-day cases to manage at any one time, and a tighter relationship between reps and the force's senior command than is typically possible in a much larger force. The branch's statutory role, rank coverage, and place within the national Federation are unchanged by that scale — only the size of the membership it serves is different.
For pay scales, career progression, and broader workforce context specific to this force, see our City of London Police force profile.
Branch FAQs
Common Questions About the City of London Police Federation
What does the City of London Police Federation do?
The City of London Police Federation represents federated-rank officers (Constable to Chief Inspector) in the City of London Police at force, regional, and national level. Its Branch Board negotiates and consults with the force's Chief Constable and senior officers on pay, welfare, and conditions, and handles the day-to-day problems Federated officers face, in the same way every other force branch does under the national Police Federation structure.
Who does the City of London Police Federation represent?
It represents all officers holding the rank of Constable, Sergeant, or Inspector (including Chief Inspector) within the City of London Police — the same 'federated ranks' the Police Federation of England and Wales covers in every force. Superintendents and above are represented separately by the Police Superintendents' Association.
How is the branch structured?
Local workplace representatives, elected by members, sit on the Branch Council. From that Branch Council, members elect a Branch Board, typically comprising a Chair, Secretary and Treasurer. Workplace reps carry out this role alongside their normal police duties — for most, it is not a full-time position. The Branch Board acts as the day-to-day negotiation and consultative link between officers and force senior management.
Is the City of London Police Federation part of the national Police Federation?
Yes. It is one of the local branches that together make up the Police Federation of England and Wales, and it sits within Region 8 (London) of the national structure alongside the Metropolitan Police Federation. It shares the same statutory basis, rank coverage, and governance model as every other branch, scaled to a much smaller force.
Related Resources
For the full national picture — legal status, pay negotiation via the PRRB, legal fund coverage, and the difference between statutory membership and voluntary subscription — see our Police Federation of England and Wales guide.
For pay, ranks, and career context specific to this force, see the City of London Police force profile. For the wider map of who represents which rank across UK policing, see the Representation Bodies hub.