LET’S BEAT IT
Police staffing fears after 650 experienced officers ignore desperate pleas not to quit
Police Scotland has failed to avert a staffing crisis – with more than 600 of its most experienced officers ignoring a plea not to retire early.
Despite Chief Constable Iain Livingstone’s letter asking around 1800 officers to think before quitting – revealed by the Sunday Mail earlier this month – more than a third have confirmed they wish to go in 2022.
The senior staff want to take advantage of a new pensions ruling which allows them to retire after 25 years on an enhanced financial deal.
It’s understood around 650 declared their intention to leave in the f irst days of the new retirement rules coming into force earlier this month.
There are now growing fears that many more will make the decision to retire early because
there will be little f inancial impact on pensions.
A force insider said: “This will cause an unprecedented and critical level of resourcing for
Scottish policing. It’s not only a significant number of officers leaving at one time, it’s a very significant number of the most experienced exp officers in the force, fo all people with at least 25 years’ service.
“You can’t replace all that exp experience in one go. It will take years.”
Another An source said the force’s force most senior cops, those on the highest salaries, would be the oneson most likely to benefit from changes to pension rules that provoked the rush to quit. The insider added that Police Scotland currently had not a single officer who had passed the command course required to progress to the rank of Assistant Chief Constable.
He said: “Put the two together, nobody waiting to step up and a number of the most likely candidates to lead the force going early, and you have a crisis.
The 1800 cops – 10.5 per cent of t he a p p r o x ima t e l y 17,200-strong force – who could apply for early retirement were those who had reached age 50 and had at least 25 years’ service.
Although police officers have always had the right to retire after 25 years, changes to public sector pensions made in 2015, which reduced massively the lump-sum element, had made it unattractive. In addition, Scottish Pol ice Federation Deputy General Secretary David Kennedy told The Sunday Mail that many members were desperate to quit the force because of low morale.
Scottish Conservative Shadow Justice Secretary Jamie Greene added: “Over 600 officers leaving the force in one go would be a hammer blow.”
A Police Scotland spokesman said: “As a single national service, we are identifying resources and managing recruitment to provide support and stability to frontline policing.”