Response

The Scottish Police Authority has considered your request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act (FOISA) and can confirm that the Authority holds some of the information you have requested.

Our response to each of your questions is provided below.

1. The current number of staff at each command area.

The Authority does not hold information related to current number of staff in each command area

The Authority does hold information setting out the total number of staff and percentage distribution per business area as of 31 December 2023.

This information was reported to the Authority’s People Committee in February 2024, and is contained in a Q3 Workforce Report (page 10).

In addition, a Q2 Workforce Dashboard presented to the Authority’s People Committee in November 2024 sets out the total number of Police Scotland staff at 30 September 2024 (page 6). This confirms that 5074 full time equivalent staff were in post.

2) The number of days-off police staff have taken broken down by year, command area and reason for taking leave (paid holiday, bereavement leave, sick leave etc.).

For the purposes of part two please differentiate between sick leave and leave for mental health reasons.

The Authority holds some of the information requested.

Police Scotland’s Year End Workforce Report, presented to the Authority’s People Committee in May 2024, shows the percentage of working days lost due to sickness absence (including percentage related to psychological disorders), and average working days lost due to sickness absence per staff member. This information is set out in page 8 and page 9 of the report and is replicated below for your ease of reference:

See PDF for charts

Additional information relating to workdays lost was reported to the Authority’s People Committee in May 2023, Q4/End of Year Workforce Report. This report highlights the percentage of work days lost due to sickness absence, and average working days lost due to sickness absence per staff member, broken down by Division/Department (page 15 and 16).

Information was also provided in the same report (page 20) that shows the percentage of annual leave not used at the end of financial year 2022/23 for officers and staff.

A Q4 and End Year Workforce Report presented to the Authority’s People Committee in June 2022 also contains relevant information for an earlier timeframe.  

3) The number of staff to have retired, quit or be dismissed broken down by year, command area and the reason for their leaving the service (retirement, dismissal, quitting).

The Authority holds some of the information requested.

Information provided to the Authority’s People Committee in November 2024 shows for financial year 2024/25 (at 30 September 2024) the main reasons for leaving as a total for support staff.  This is replicated below:

See PDF for table

Additionally, information provided to the Authority’s People Committee in May 2024 shows the percentage of Police Staff leavers, split as voluntary and involuntary from 2020/21 to 2023/24, as replicated below:

See PDF for chart

Information also provided to the Authority’s People Committee in May 2023 shows staff leaver by reason from 2021/22 – 2022/23.  This information is replicated below:

See PDF for chart

In addition to the information above, the Authority holds two reports containing relevant information which covers the period 2020/2021. These reports are appended to this response.

In relation to questions 2 and 3, where figures for the same period have been reported across different reports, the most recent data should be used.

Further information related to your request may be available by contacting Police Scotland at foi@scotland.police.uk

You may also wish to refer to Police Scotland’s Disclosure Log.