‘Morale and wellbeing crisis’ among senior operational police leaders, warns Superintendents’ Association

Results from the 2023 survey show extremely low levels of morale and motivation – many the lowest they have ever been. Results also highlight significant drops in the level of pride felt with being in the police service, and in the number of members who would recommend joining policing.

Just 52 per cent said their personal motivation was high – the lowest ever recorded. 66 per cent said morale was low in their force, only 38 per cent feel valued and just 32 per cent would recommend policing to others.

This is the 8th year of the PSA’s survey, which has shown a steadily declining picture of police morale.

The PSA represents superintendents and chief superintendents in 49 police forces, and each year, it carries out a consultation process in partnership with the Superintendents’ Association of Northern Ireland (SANI), seeking feedback and insight from members on pay, morale and motivation.

The association has consistently called upon policing’s national leaders to invest in and commit to wellbeing initiatives for police officers and staff that reflect the high-risk and high-stress nature of the work they undertake, and which recognise the high levels of mental health illness and stress-related conditions within the workforce.

These messages were high on the agenda in the president’s address to Policing Minister, Dame Diana Johnson at the PSA’s recent conference.

The PSA’s survey figures build on a recent study carried out by the College of Policing on superintendents in nine police forces. Respondents underwent psychological risk assessments, which revealed that superintendents are the most ‘at risk’ rank in policing when it comes to psychological harm.

The assessments led to just 50 per cent of supers being issued with ‘fitnotes’, meaning there were no significant psychological symptoms identified. This is against a benchmark of 80-84 per cent fit notes issued for other ranks.

Despite this, the assessments showed that superintendents were far less likely to take sick days off work than other ranks, suggesting high levels of presenteeism – statistics also reflected in the national deployability report, showing significantly less officers at the rank of superintendent on long-term sick leave than those at constable rank. The risk assessments also showed superintendents recorded higher scores for stress, burnout and depression.

The PSA has worked closely with partner organisations such as Oscar Kilo, the National Police Wellbeing Service, to develop wellbeing initiatives to support superintendents and the wider workforce.

It is now calling for a national commitment to a consistent wellbeing provision, beginning with a service-wide assessment of force offerings, ahead of a funded programme of inspection and accountability.

PSA President Nick Smart explained: “Today’s World Mental Health Day focuses on workplace mental health – a major priority for our association, and something that should be a priority for every police force, and for government.

“The wellbeing agenda has been a priority for us for a long time. We have highlighted the poor state of wellbeing right across the ranks and worked hard to do what we can to influence the national agenda.

“Our pay survey data, alongside that of our recent psychological risk assessment project, shows that the need for bespoke support for police leaders is irrefutable, alongside a service-wide wellbeing infrastructure that guarantees every police officer at every rank, appropriate levels of support to deal with the mental health impact of the type of work we are asking them to do.

“We need to respond to the data that shows us where we have people at high risk of harm, and looking more broadly, we need to end the ‘postcode lottery’ that police officers face in force with regards to the help they’ll receive when they are struggling.

“Every police officer and member of police staff should have confidence in the support they will find when they ask for help. Currently this isn’t the case and it isn’t acceptable.  Policing is often about putting yourself in harm’s way and sacrificing your own safety for others.

“The least our workforce should expect in return is a well-resourced, dependable wellbeing offering.

“We’ve already made progress in some areas with our colleagues at Oscar Kilo, such as through the creation of a dedicated mental health support line for senior officers, but there is so much more to be done.

“I hope that the evidence we are sharing today, and our clear asks of government during our conference, will lead to enhanced wellbeing support, so that our police service can become a workplace recognised for the value it places on its people.”

The PSA has made a number of recommendations which it is sharing with policing leads at the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the Home Office and the College of Policing:

• Carry out a benchmarking exercise to understand the current wellbeing and occupational health offering across all forces, identifying gaps;
• Fully resourced occupational health provision in all forces, with clear minimum standards, removing the ‘postcode lottery’ of wellbeing support for officers and staff;
• Formal requirement for all forces to self-assess their occupational health provision under the Bluelight Wellbeing Framework and to achieve the enhanced standards aligned to SEQOSH;
• His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services commitment to carrying out regular thematic inspections of occupational health standards across all forces;
• Specific reference to senior operational roles including superintendents, within the ‘role specific activity’ of the College of Policing Workforce Prioritisation Guidance and consideration of its status being raised to a mandatory code of practice;
• Superintendents to be included within the defined ‘high risk roles’ receiving regular psychological risk assessments, with linked action plans for all ranks and officers identified as at risk; and
• Greater funding for the National Police Wellbeing Service to enable them to embed the new wellbeing APP and address the inconsistency of support across forces.

Other findings from the survey include:

34 per cent say their personal morale is low – the highest so far;

52 per cent said their morale was lower than it was 12 months ago;

39 per cent said their personal motivation was lower than it was 12 months ago;

78 per cent feel proud to be in the police – the lowest ever; and

91 per cent do not feel the police are respected by government.