England & Wales police update part-time and leave rules
From 29 December 2025, two everyday rules change for police forces in England and Wales: how part‑time appointments are made, and how annual leave is booked. The update sits in The Police (Amendment) Regulations 2025, made on 4 December and laid before Parliament on 8 December, signed by Home Office minister Sarah Jones, according to legislation.gov.uk.
If you work in HR or you’re a chief officer, the first change is simple: you no longer have a legal duty to consult local representatives of staff associations before appointing a part‑time member. The amendment removes that consultation phrase from regulation 5(1) of the Police Regulations 2003, which previously required it.
The second change in the same regulation deletes paragraph 5(7). That paragraph used to create special treatment for people appointed part‑time by tweaking how probation (regulation 12) and overtime (regulation 25) applied. Removing it brings part‑time members into line with full‑time colleagues for those rules.
Annual leave also gets a practical upgrade. Regulation 33 swaps references to “days” for “periods”, and replaces “single days” with “a number of different periods”. In practice, forces will be able to grant and record annual leave in hours or other lengths of time, not just days or half‑days listed in the current text.
For officers, this means two things you can feel. First, clearer parity if you work part‑time: probation and overtime should now follow the same standard rules as full‑time service. Second, booking time off should be more flexible-think two hours for an appointment rather than burning a half‑day of leave-once your force updates its systems.
For chief officers and HR teams, the legal tick‑box is gone but the relationship work remains. You can still consult local reps as a matter of policy. Keeping that dialogue-especially around shift patterns, job‑share design and progression-will help avoid misunderstandings and maintain trust in how part‑time roles are offered.
For supervisors, the key is consistency. Make sure probation tracking for part‑time colleagues follows the same baseline rules you use for full‑time officers, and check that overtime is calculated on the current force determination rather than any legacy carve‑outs that echoed the old paragraph 5(7).
There’s some important process detail worth knowing. The Home Office records that the College of Policing approved the text, and the Secretary of State did not seek advice from the Senior Salaries Review Body or the Police Remuneration Review Body because of the narrow scope of these changes.
Timing matters. The regulations come into force on 29 December 2025 and extend to England and Wales. If you manage systems, aim to switch your leave module to hours‑based options and update any guidance on part‑time appointments before that date so officers see the benefit immediately.
A quick sense‑check you can do this week: confirm your HR platform can record leave in hours; update any local policy that still refers to consultation as a requirement for part‑time hiring; and brief line managers on the probation and overtime alignment so decisions are applied fairly from day one.
If you’re studying policing powers and conditions, it’s useful to read the primary law yourself. Compare the new statutory instrument with regulation 5 and regulation 33 of the Police Regulations 2003 on legislation.gov.uk to see the exact words that changed and how they affect probation, overtime and leave.