- Conference
- 2024 Police, Probation and CAFCASS Conference
- Date
- 20 June 2024
- Decision
- Carried
For several years now our member’s jobs have been under attack. Vacant positions lying dormant and not filled after so-called re-organisational moves that have seen the post holder leave the organisation. Yet the work left by that post is still required to be done and passed on to those left behind or by police officers in backfill.
Police Scotland recorded over 14000 hrs of overtime in one month in the last financial year. That is approximately 92 staff working 35 hours a week. That level of spending was clearly unsustainable and how did Police Scotland decide to attempt to balance its budget ? By introducing a VR/VER scheme and freezing recruitment.
This is taxpayers’ money paying for overtime when in reality it should be used to fund an appropriate number of staff in post not cut them. How much is this repeated throughout the UK?
We all know what happens, a department of ten is reduced to a department of five but the work remains for the full complement of ten. This is no longer sustainable and we need to stop our members being overworked to the point of burnout.
Our members are regularly starting early and finishing late. They will work through unpaid lunch breaks with no recompense to get the work done because that is the type of people our members are especially when it comes to providing a service to the public.
The public expects their Police to be properly resourced with Police patrolling the streets and our members carrying out their support roles. The wellbeing of staff is not being properly looked after and the employer needs to take responsibility when our members can no longer cope with the excessive workloads being put upon them.
Conference calls on the SGE
1. To use Freedom of Information requests to understand the extent of overtime that is being paid and the average staff posts that equate throughout the police forces in the UK.
2. To use that information to campaign for a properly resourced Police Service.
3. To campaign for the wellbeing of our members and to highlight the real risk that burnout will have on a employer who end up with staff unable to carry out roles if not addressed.