The thin blue line just got EVEN thinner as recruitment freeze, early retirement and ill health sees more than 1,200 staff and officers leave Police Scotland

More than 1,200 officers and staff left Police Scotland last year amid concern over ‘grievance and absence due to stress’, figures show.

The impact of a recruitment freeze and civilian early retirement drive mean more pressure is being piled on a dwindling workforce – while more officers are quitting early because of ill health.

The cost of absence is an astonishing £74million at a time of major cash constraints for the force.

Officer numbers are at their lowest level since 2008 and leaders of the rank-and-file warn that it is proving difficult to replace those who have left.

Last night Scottish Tory justice spokesman Russell Findlay said: ‘These stark figures confirm that many of Scotland’s dedicated police officers have had enough, leaving the thin blue line at breaking point. SNP budget cuts, their relentless weakening of the justice system, and disregard for officer welfare mean that policing numbers are at their lowest in 16 years.’

More than 850 officers left Police Scotland voluntarily last year

A workforce annual report by Katy Miller, Police Scotland director of people and development, will be presented to a Scottish Police Authority (SPA) public board meeting in Edinburgh today.

It said 1,279 officers and staff left voluntarily in 2023 – 854 officers and 425 civilian staff – while only 949 were hired (606 officers and 343 civilians). It also said that ‘grievance and absence due to stress… have seen an increase, giving rise to some concern about the wellbeing of the workforce’.

But the report also argued that turnover is still below that of police services in other parts of the UK.

It showed 75 officers retired because of ill-health during the past year, up by more than 15 per cent. A redundancy and early retirement programme identified 223 posts for ‘immediate release’ (saving £9.8million) and a further 252 for ‘potential release’ (saving £9.9million).

The Mail understands around 90 officers are currently suspended and about 180 are on restricted duties – possibly because they are under investigation and have been moved to a backroom role.

The report said: ‘Working days lost to absence remains higher than pre-Covid levels at 6.1 per cent (up from 5.1 per cent in 2018/19). Psychological absences continue to rise.’

Last night David Threadgold, chairman of the Scottish Police Federation, said: ‘We have a service that is broken because we cannot do the basics of what a police service should be.

‘People are leaving because of incessant demand and potential applicants are reluctant to join the service because they know the pressures they would face.’

A force spokesman said: ‘We restarted officer recruitment in March and plans for further intakes totalling over 1,300 officers during 2024-25 are due to be discussed at the SPA board.’

The Scottish Government said last night: ‘We have provided record funding of £1.55billion for policing in 2024-25 – an increase of £92.7million, which means Police Scotland can increase officer numbers to around 16,500 to 16,600.’

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