Police banned from taking leave to deal with Brexit fallout

Officers not allowed to go on holiday in April

pfrancis@thekmgroup.co.uk

Kent Police has confirmed officers are not being permitted to book any leave after the deadline date for Brexit - but only for a month.

Force chiefs say there are no plans to cancel holidays in the run up to March, adding they will honour time off that has already been booked.

The force could come under pressure around the March 29 departure date if the UK is unable to reach an agreement for its split from the EU.

A no-deal scenario is considered more likely to trigger Operation Brock - the scheme to limit disruption to the county caused by delays in customs checks.

Kent Police would have a significant role in implementing and overseeing the introduction of a contraflow on the M20 as well as organising and managing the diversion of lorries.

Assistant Chief Constable Peter Ayling said: “Officers who had already booked leave on or after March 29 have been permitted to take it.

“Kent Police regularly assesses significant events and assesses its resources accordingly, including when it is appropriate to decline leave requests when the threshold for the acceptable number of officers off duty is reached.

“As such, no further leave requests, other than those already approved, will be approved for officers for the period from March 28 to the end of April at this time.”

He added: “Kent Police’s priority is to keep people safe and help partner agencies keep the county moving.

“With Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union, Kent Police has an obligation to plan for every foreseeable eventuality with its partner agencies and key stakeholders.

“As part of that planning various transport, logistics and resourcing contingencies have been discussed.

“Kent Police remains in consultation with government departments as part of this process.”

The force has secured £850,000 of government money for Brexit contingency planning.

The funding was announced by police and crime commissioner Matthew Scott, who explained the cash would cover the initial stages of preparing for the UK’S withdrawal from the EU.

He said, based on whether a deal was agreed upon, the force would need between £4m and £19.5m to deal with the effects of leaving the union.