The Police Federation of England and Wales was established by the Police Act 1919 to provide the police with a means of bringing their views on welfare and efficiency to the notice of the government and the police authorities.

The current membership of the Federation is 126,000.

All the elected officials of the Police Federation must be serving police officers.

Police are not permitted to belong to trades unions and must not take part in politics. (The Federation does, however, liaise with public sector trade unions and has excellent relationships with the TUC and all political parties).

Under the provisions of the Police Act, the police are forbidden to strike, and must at all times obey the lawful orders of senior officers.

There are separate Police Federations for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The Federation does not represent "non-Home Office" police forces, i.e. British Transport, Ministry of Defence, Isle of Man, Channel Islands, etc. These forces have their own organisations.

Police pay, allowances, pensions and conditions of service are negotiated nationally in the Police Negotiating Board, which covers the United Kingdom police service.