A Third Plan To Leave Police Scotland

A staff survey has found 33% of staff plan to leave Police Scotland in the next 3 years.

A third of police in Scotland are planning to leave in the next 3 years.

A survey's been carried out, and around half the service's 24,000 staff took part.

Only a quarter of officers thought they had the resources needed to do their job properly.

Andrew Flanagan, Chair of the SPA, said: "The results speak for themselves and we will not seek to rationalise them away. There are a number of very positive findings within the survey that provide reassurance and which we must build upon. There are also issues of concern and areas for improvement.

"The clear priority areas are the commitment of officers and staff to stay with the organisation, health and wellbeing, and communications. It is on those priority areas that the SPA expects a strong management response, and on which SPA will use its influence and oversight.

"One immediate step SPA will take is within the assessment and appointment process of the new Chief Constable. All those shortlisted can expect to be challenged by me on how they would personally address the central issues within today's report.

"A detailed response plan will now be drawn together by Police Scotland, informed by further engagement with the workforce. That will be subject to scrutiny by the Authority in December, and will also be the subject of a further 'temperature test' survey of the workforce in a year's time.

"A comparable workforce survey will then be repeated in the summer of 2017, with a clear expectation of material improvements where improvement is required.

"There is much to be encouraged by what this survey reflects, and together we will act upon it to improve policing as a place to work and to improve the service to the public."

George McIrvine, UNISON Police Staff Branch Secretary said: "UNISON has said for a long time that there are major issues that need addressing. The fact that only 9% of staff believe that genuine engagement will result from the survey is deeply concerning. 33% of staff indicating that they intended leaving the organisation is indicative of a workforce who feel neglected, undervalued and under stress. Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland must act on these outcomes."