Travelling digital picket line will start at Lloyd House

25 May 2026

With new figures revealing that forces across the UK owe officers nearly 820,000 rest days, West Midlands Police Federation is creating a travelling digital picket line to encourage more members to sign up in support of the Hands Off Our Rest Days campaign.

The Force, according to the new statistics, owes 59,983 rest days.

Jess Davies and Mat Minton, chair and deputy chair of the West Midlands Police Federation branch, will be at Lloyd House in Birmingham on 10 June for the first in a series of events at which officers will be able to find out more about the Federation campaign, and sign the digital picket line.

Crisis

“The true scale of the crisis facing frontline officers has been highlighted with the release of these new figures following a Freedom of Information request from Police Oracle,” says Jess.

“The fact that 820,000 rest days are owed is shocking in itself, but you also have to give those figures some perspective. In real terms, 820,000 rest days equates to 2,240 years of lost time with families but also lost recovery time and damage to officers’ wellbeing.

“These figures also clearly expose that the police service is running on the goodwill of exhausted officers and yet the National Police Chiefs’ Council is proposing to weaken the protections that exist for officers, which is indefensible.”

The Police Federation has intensified the Hands Off Our Rest Days campaign and is warning the Government that proposed changes to rest day protections would be a betrayal of a workforce already pushed beyond breaking point.

As of 1 March 2026, forces reported 817,884 outstanding rest days for constables, sergeants, inspectors and chief inspectors. The real figure is likely to be higher, with four forces unable to provide data.

Disruption

Under current regulations, officers called in on a cancelled rest day are entitled to a minimum of four hours’ pay at time and a half, recognising the disruption to their lives.

But the NPCC has asked the Government to scrap that safeguard, replacing it with time and one third, calculated in 15-minute increments, paid only for the exact minutes worked. Chiefs also want tighter rules on how rest days are re‑rostered - despite widespread evidence that many forces already fail to return the time owed.

A recent Federation poll showed 85 per cent of officers oppose the changes.

Hands Off Our Rests Days forms part of the wider Copped Enough movement for fair pay and humane working conditions.

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The travelling digital picket line follows a series of Federation roadshows held across the Force area, with a Wolverhampton roadshow being held on 9 June.