Lancashire police officers set to lose 31 rest days (From Blackpool Citizen)

Lancashire police officers set to lose 31 rest days

12:30pm Monday 18th January 2010

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FRONTLINE police officers in Lancashire will have to work for an extra month every year after a new shift rota was finalised.

Chief Constable Steve Finnigan announced the changes, aimed at getting more response officers on duty when demand is highest.

Although Mr Finnigan has stopped short of bigger changes originally suggested, the 1,100 officers affected will lose 31 rest days. New shifts start in October.

Lancashire Police Federation chairman John O’Reilly said the force had agreed a five-shift, five-week rota system, with 10-hour shifts reduced to eight hours, requiring officers to work more days to average 40 hours a week.

Mr O’Reilly said rest days were down to 115, from 146: “Not all out members are happy. Obviously with more days comes extra travel and childcare expense.

“But it is part of an ongoing review, like every other department, to get more out of us for the same expense.” The first proposal was an eight-week rota with officers facing seven shifts in a row, which prompted one experienced officer to claim ‘We’ll never see out families’.

Mr O’Reilly said: “We were in a no-win situation. If we hadn’t accepted this option, a far worse shift rota would have been imposed. However the Chief Constable has moved a lot from his original position.”

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