Lost rest days impact officer welfare and morale, says branch chair

14 May 2026

Police officers in Dyfed-Powys are collectively owed 707 rest days, new figures have revealed.

Dyfed Powys Police Federation chair Delme Rees said that the figure represents hundreds of occasions where members had sacrificed vital recovery time to keep communities safe.

The figures, obtained through a Freedom of Information request by Police Oracle, revealed that rank-and-file officers nationwide are owed a staggering 817,884 rest days.

The figure for Dyfed Powys Police is the second lowest in England and Wales, behind Dorset.

But Delme said the figure must still be viewed in the wider context of increasing demand and strain on officers.

And he said that cancelled rest days mean officers missing family milestones, personal commitments, and opportunities to properly recover from the demands of frontline policing.

He said: “Although Dyfed-Powys has one of the lowest numbers of outstanding rest days in the country, every lost rest day represents an officer missing vital time to recuperate.

“The Force is clearly working hard to manage demand and minimise the impact on our members.

“However, officers should not be losing their rest days in the first place. Rest time is not a luxury.

Wellbeing

“It is essential for members to be able to spend time with their loved ones and do the things they love away from the job, and it’s essential for wellbeing and morale.”

PFEW recently launched its Hands Off Our Rest Days campaign in response to national proposals that could weaken protections surrounding police officers’ rest days.

The campaign warns that policing in England and Wales is operating under unprecedented pressure, with cancelled rest days becoming an increasingly common feature of operational policing.

Delme said the national total of outstanding rest days demonstrates the scale of the challenge facing officers and forces.

He said: “Our members are committed to the job and will always step forward when communities need them most.

Personal time

“However, policing can’t rely indefinitely on officers sacrificing their personal time.

“This is a national issue that needs addressing to ensure we can continue to deliver a safe and effective service to the public.”

Tiff Lynch, Police Federation national chair, said: “Unsustainable workloads that put officers at risk are, shamefully, the operating model of policing.

"These figures lay that bare.

"We will not accept the continued erosion of officer safety and health, nor chiefs whose only answer to this crisis is to make it cheaper and easier to take officers’ rest time away.

"We have already taken enforcement action against forces failing in their legal duty of care, and we will do so again and again until the message hits home."

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