Stop Cancelling Rest Days
15 May 2026
“If we want our officers to be clear-minded when they have to make split-second, life-changing decisions,then we need to make sure officers get the rest that is owed to them.”
That was the Chair of Surrey Police Federation’s response to new research that found over 820,000 rest days are owed to police officers in the UK.
A Freedom of Information (FOI) Act request found that Constables, Sergeants, Inspectors and Chief Inspectors were owed 826,679 rest days – the equivalent of 2,264 years – as of 1 March 2026. The true figure is likely to be even higher, as three forces, including Surrey Police, were unable to provide data.
The Metropolitan Police owed the highest number of rest days to its officers: 215,075 days (the equivalent of 589 years). Meanwhile Lincolnshire Police had a shockingly high ratio of rest days owed considering the size of the force, owing an average of 42 rest days per officer.
Surrey Police Federation Chair Darren Pemble said: “These figures are staggering. If we want our officers to be fit for the job and clear-minded when they have to make split-second, life-changing decisions, to risk-assess and keep our most vulnerable safe, then we need to make sure officers get the rest that is owed to them.
“We are aware that officers are unable to take the rest days they are owed, and this is down to a simple resourcing issue. We do not have enough cops in the UK. It is plain and simple – policing needs greater investment from the Government. The UK police service has the lowest number of officers per capita when compared to any other major European nation.
“I am sure that the public want to have safer streets and more officers patrolling their communities, so we would ask that policing budgets are increased to make this a reality, rather than the ever-decreasing budgets forces are having to juggle to deliver a service to the public.”
Darren added that there were often leave embargoes, making it difficult for officers to rest and recuperate, or even take leave during their children’s school holidays.
He said: “The National Police Chiefs’ Council has failed to analyse how many hours of police work is conducted a year and failed to provide the right number of people to do that work. They are allowing forces to haemorrhage money via overtime and cancelling rest days as normal business. Meanwhile officers are burning out.”
