"It was a battle worth fighting to get our members included in the Police Covenant", the Civil Nuclear Police Federation has said as the covenant comes into effect today.
The Police Covenant was originally going to be restricted to Home Office police forces, but after lobbying from the Civil Nuclear Police Federation, along with the Federations for the British Transport Police and Ministry of Defence Police, it is now open to non-Home Office police too.
Gary Thwaite, Chief Executive of the Civil Nuclear Police Federation, said: "The covenant is looking at NHS support for police, training up GPs, as well as officer safety, family support, mental health support - it's all very positive and much-needed, but I think it's early days to say what the finer details will actually look like."
On their campaign to get equal footing in the covenant, Gary said: "We find that, being non-Home Office forces, we sometimes get missed out of important pieces of legislation. We weren't going to let that happen this time, particularly when it was important for the welfare of all our members. So it was a battle worth fighting.
"We haven't had an invite to the Police Covenant Oversight Board. But we have been recently invited to a non-Home Office Oversight governance group and will support from here."
It is vital that the Police Covenant brings real welfare benefits for members, Gary said: "I'd like to see proper police support functions develop out of the Police Covenant, where the forces and Government are held to account if that's not happening. The welfare support of our members is our number-one priority, so the covenant is a step in the right direction. We just have to make sure it goes ahead and does what it says on the tin."
He added: "It is a positive step that there will be a legal requirement for the Government to report to Parliament every year about police welfare, wellbeing and support, but there are still questions about how non-Home Office forces will feed into the process.