Police officers frustrated over leave changes

Thames Valley Police officers have been left frustrated after the force made changes to how annual leave will be taken for the coming summer.

Time off cannot be booked from 31 May to 1 September through the force's self-service function while it assesses if it has enough officers for the busy summer period.

The Thames Valley Police Federation, which represents officers of all ranks, said it had made their "feelings and frustrations" clear.

The force said the decision was "not taken lightly" but that the resources may be needed.

According to the federation, those who have already booked time off will have their applications assessed by the force's resource management team. Annual leave can still be booked outside these dates.

It said the force listened to its views but was "under no obligation to change their decision as a result of their representations".

Federation secretary Gary Bishop said it was not "a leave embargo".

He added: "Based on ongoing conversations, I believe that the situation will revert to normal in a relatively short time."

In a Facebook message to members he said he "would rather the force make this decision now and get the resourcing picture right... rather than not turning it off, and then cancelling leave or rest days nearer the time".

But responses were mainly negative, with one member calling it "easily the worst year for booking annual leave I've seen in my career", and another saying morale was "at rock bottom".

"It is already difficult to find enough weeks in a year to have a holiday without seeing a sea of red on the calendar," one said.

"This is a basic failure on all fronts. There not being enough frontline staff to meet demand is the primary cause."

Data in a recent report to the police and crime panel showed 37 people were leaving Thames Valley Police each month, with a "significant" number citing "anxiety, stress, and burnout" as factors.

A spokesperson from Thames Valley Police said it was a "temporary change".

"This does not prevent our people from booking leave via the non-self-services function," they said.

"This option to remove self-serve functionality is not taken lightly but is sometimes required to ensure we have enough resources to deal with the busy summer period, and ensures we can serve and protect our communities.

"It is part of our forward planning approach to manage annual leave and other abstractions whilst ensuring sufficient resources are available to meet demand."

Thames Valley Police Assistant Chief Constable Dennis Murray said the changes meant officers and staff could still book leave, but new requests would need to be authorised rather than being automated.

"This is something we review regularly to support officer welfare, and we also have to consider ways to best plan for key events during the busy summer period," he said.

"This temporary procedural change does not affect leave entitlement and any time off that has already been booked will still be given."

Dr Tim Brain, a former chief constable and police historian, told the BBC: "The requirements of the job always come first, and that's part of the regulations and your contract, but there's no point in saying it's not going to have a damaging effect and be of worry to individuals.

"But the force are foreseeing a problem, and are taking a responsible management line to try and manage that problem through."

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