Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the latest data her Department holds on the level of sickness absence among police (a) officers, (b) community support officers and (c) support staff (i) nationally and (ii) in York.

The Home Office collects and publishes data on the number of police officers on long-term absences, in England and Wales on an annual basis in March the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, available here: Police workforce England and Wales statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

These data are a snapshot of officers on long-term sick absence as at 31 March each year. Long-term sickness includes any recognised medical condition, physical or psychological, as reported by the officer or a medical practitioner, which has lasted for more than 28 calendar days.

The absence data in the release covers police officers only, andare available by Police Force Area. Lower levels of geography are not collected.

Data on the number of police officers on long-term sick absence in North Yorkshire and England and Wales, on both a full-time equivalent (FTE) and headcount basis, as at 31 March each year, since 2007 can be found in the ‘Absences Open Data Table’ available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1005764/open-data-table-police-workforce-absence-280721.ods

The next release of ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, which will cover the situation as at 31 March 2022, is scheduled for release at 9.30am on Wednesday 27^th July.