One in eight officers plan to leave South Yorkshire Police within two years

The Police Federation of England and Wales said police officers are reaching "breaking point" and leaving the service due to pay and work conditions.

The PFEW's pay and morale survey, carried out in September and October last year, shows 13 per cent of the 456 officers in South Yorkshire Police who responded, said they were planning to leave the service.

About four per cent said they intended to resign from the force within the next two years and 9% stated they are already looking for other employment.

Altogether, the rate is up from the previous survey in 2021, when 11 per cent of officers said they were planning to resign.

Nationally, 18 per cent of respondents said they intended to resign within two years or as soon as they could.

Steve Hartshorn, PFEW national chair, said: “Police officers are reaching breaking point and are leaving the service in their droves as every element of their pay and conditions has been gradually eroded in the space of a decade."

Mr Hartshorn added over 8,000 police officers left the service in England and Wales in the year ending March 2022 – the highest number of leavers since comparable records began.

He said about 1,800 officers who joined under the Government Uplift Programme have already resigned.

Of South Yorkshire Police officers who said they were planning to leave the job, the main reasons cited for leaving the force were their morale (83 per cent), the impact of the job on their mental health and wellbeing (73 per cent) and how police are treated by the government (71 per cent).

The survey also showed 58 per cent of the area's officers said they had a low or very low level of morale - down from 64 per cent in 2021.

Additionally, 94 per cent said they do not feel the government respects them and 77 per cent said they do not feel respected by the public.

Mr Hartshorn said: “To rebuild the broken thin blue line, police officers need a pay award that acknowledges the cost-of-living crisis, their unique responsibilities and the restrictions imposed on their industrial rights.

"Otherwise, the profession will remain at risk and the disillusionment of our colleagues will deepen, the government must act.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “Policing is a career like no other and we need officers to keep communities safe and cut crime. We are injecting record funds into policing and giving officers the support, training and powers they need to crack down on crime.

“The government remains on track to deliver its pledge to recruit 20,000 police officers by March 2023. The overwhelming majority of new recruits recently surveyed report positive job satisfaction and want to remain officers for the rest of their working lives.”

Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police, Lauren Poultney, said: “I am of course saddened to hear that any officer would want to leave our ranks due to feeling unhappy in their role.

“A lot is asked of our officers - and policing in general – on a daily basis and I understand the impact this has on our people.

“We have ongoing conversations including with partner agencies to help address some of the issues within our gift to influence, such as capacity. If we can support our partners in managing their own demand, we can create capacity for core policing and the issues we know matter most to our communities.

“Many of the issues raised unfortunately sit outside of our ability to change, such as police pay. However, it does not make them any less concerning.

“Despite the matters raised in the survey, I know our officers continue to work hard, day in, day out, to keep the communities of South Yorkshire safe.

“I am also heartened by the success of our ongoing recruitment drive, which is bolstered by the variety of different pathways new recruits can take into the force. Whether you have a degree, you don’t have one but are willing to work towards one, or you are former military personnel, there is a route for you. The size of our workforce has grown by 600 officers since 2019 and we continue to see the benefits of this uplift.

“While promising, these developments do not take away from the issues highlighted in the survey and we continue to work closely with the Police Federation to address concerns and make SYP a workplace of choice.”

*You can visit South Yorkshire Police’s recruitment page here https://www.southyorkshire.police.uk/sign-up/join-team-syp/police-officer-roles/police-constable/

Four police cohorts will be joining the force in the next couple of months. These are made up of 134 officers, 74 of whom are joining through the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship (PCDA) programme.

Next month, there will also be 50 officers joining the force through the Degree Holder Entry Programme (DHEP), and a further 24 officers are joining in March via the Detective Now Programme.

Recruitment drives are held throughout the year where people can find out more and see if this is the career for them

A spokesman said: “We pride ourselves in having numerous support networks within the force to help our officers and staff if and when they need it - whether that be financial support, equality and wellbeing networks, or psychological and trauma support after dealing with a harrowing incident.”