Resilience within the inspecting ranks has long been a matter of concern for both ourselves and our colleagues across the country. Indeed it has been the overarching topic of discussion at several recent Inspectors Central Conferences.

We have long suspected that there are too few of us available to do the work demanded. This has resulted in many of our members regularly working excessive hours without the opportunity to take appropriate periods of compensatory rest.

Large numbers of unused annual leave and rest days are being routinely accumulated with no realistic prospect of taking them before their currency expires. All this means that officers are unable to achieve a healthy work/life balance and ultimately this creates a detrimental effect upon an individuals health & wellbeing.

In order to highlight these concerns we have in recent weeks begun to collate some quantifiable data, rather than having to rely, as in previous times, upon supposition and anecdote. To this end we have surveyed a large number of our members seeking information on the hours they are working and the roles and responsibilities they have.  

Our aim is to illustrate the worth of the inspecting ranks to the MPS and highlight their intolerable and in many cases we believe, illegal working conditions.

We will of course publish our findings as soon as they are available