The Police (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 1992

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations further amend the Police Regulations 1987 (“the principal Regulations”) so as to make provision for part-time service.

Regulation 3 inserts into the principal Regulations a new regulation 8A which authorises chief officers of police, with the approval of the Secretary of State, to make part-time appointments, and applies the principal Regulations to part-time appointees with the modifications set out in a new Schedule 1A.

Regulation 4 scales down part-time service for pay and leave purposes.

The new Schedule 1A inserted by regulation 5 makes a number of detailed modifications to the principal Regulations in their application to part-time appointeed. The main ones are as follows.

Part-time constables (who must have completed full-time probation before appointment) may be required to serve a further period of probation (paragraphs 2 and 3).

Part-time duty in ranks below superintendent is to be performed in accordance with general arrangements made by the chief officer of police after consulting the police authority and local staff association representatives, an individual’s normal period of duty during a duty roster period being a number of hours determined with his agreement by the chief officer (paragraph 4). That number divided by the hours that would be required of a full-time officer constitutes the “appropriate factor” (paragraph 1) to be used in calculating various entitlements; for ranks above chief inspector the factor is one half, since in their case a part-time appointment involves the sharing of duties with one other officer (see new regulation 8A(8)). Examples of the use of the factor occur in paragraphs 7 and 8 (public holidays, rest days and monthly leave days); 10 (annual leave); 13(b) (senior ranks' pay); 16 and 17 (housing and similar allowances); and 19 to 22, 24, 25 and 27 to 29 (various other allowances).

Paragraph 5 provides for a more flexible system of duty rosters and introduces “free days” in addition to rest days; paragraphs 6, 7, 9, 11 and 12 make modified provision for, respectively, overtime payments, payments for working on public holidays and rest and free days, travelling time, sick leave and maternity leave; paragraphs 13(a) and 15 convert lower ranks' annual pay, and London weighting, to hourly equivalents.