Brief

H/Advisors Cicero has been the retained public affairs provider for the Police Federation of England & Wales (PFEW) since 2017.

H/Advisors Cicero has since worked on a mandate to support PFEW’s Protect the Protectors campaign alongside the organisation’s overall stakeholder engagement with parliamentarians and Government. 

Strategy and execution

The Protect the Protectors campaign sought to address the significant increase in attacks on emergency service workers. H/Advisors Cicero worked with the Federation to translate this campaign into a legislative ask, calling on the Government to double the custodial sentences for the crime. 

H/Advisors Cicero sought to recruit supportive backbench MPs and government ministers to enact this change. The campaign’s legislative objectives soon became a Private Member’s Bill following lobbying from Holly Lynch MP, a champion of the campaign, who was recruited by H/Advisors Cicero.

We then provided political engagement support and strategic counsel to the Federation, navigating the client through the legislative process and organising bilateral meetings with MPs and Government to build support for the Bill’s passage. 

Results

The Bill became law in September 2018, enacting the campaign’s primary objective. 

Since then, the campaign has sparked a wider conversation around support for the Police and their protection which culminated in the ‘Police Covenant’ campaign and a campaign for further harsher sentences for those who attack emergency service workers. 

Both campaigns have since been adopted by the Government and have been included into the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill which is currently making its way through parliament.