Hundreds of South Yorkshire officers waiting for promotion

MORE than 500 officers at South Yorkshire Police are stuck in career limbo after they passed the promotions process but have been unable to find a post in the next role.

In the force, 433 constables are waiting to be substantively promoted, along with 113 sergeants – a total of 546 officers.

At least 15,209 police officers across England and Wales have found themselves in similar situations after they passed both Ospre Parts I and II, or work-based assessment equivalents.

These officers – around one in eight – have been unable to find any jobs to go to.

One constable in Greater Manchester Police passed his sergeants’ exams 10 years ago and has still not been promoted.

He said: “I took the exam 10 years ago. I have been acting on and off ever since and I am fed up. If they allowed the ones from the promotion freeze to have first go at the next process it would help.

“I keep being told by the leadership team how good I am… We just need more substantive positions instead of temporary ones.”

Northumbria Police had the third highest number of yet to be promoted PCs, at 594, while West Midlands Police’s 225 qualified sergeants waiting to become inspectors was the third highest figure.

In a national Police Federation survey this year, nearly 16% of police officers said they were planning to leave the service within the next two years. Of those planning to leave, 79.4% said the perception there were better job opportunities outside the police service had either some or a major effect on their decision, with 73% citing their workload and responsibilities as a factor.

The number of available roles for officers to go into has shrunk dramatically in the past five years thanks to more than 17,000 police posts being cut.

In 2010 there were 22,852 police sergeants. At the last count, there were 19,148 – that’s 3704 fewer.

In 2010, there were 7,222 inspector posts – there are now 5,701. That’s 1,521 fewer.

But while the number of available jobs is decreasing, the number of officer seeking those jobs – and qualified for those jobs – is increasing.