by LUCY ASHTON
Almost 40,000 working days have been lost to Police Scotland during the first quarter of this year due to officers being placed on restricted duties, it has emerged.
Last night, critics described the situation as “particularly acute”.
It once again raises questions over the backing and funding which the single force receives from the Scottish Government.
However, there are said to be 974 officers whose roles have been permanently adjusted, making them “non-deployable”, while 871 can only be deployed with restrictions.
The number of officers who are on modified duties has risen to 2,373 since March 2025. Psychological disorders accounted for more than 20,700 of the long-term working days lost.
The President of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents (ASPS) spoke out about the impact of the number of officers in this situation.
Chief Superintendent Rob Hay said that the number of Scottish officers on modified duties was now larger than 28 of the 43 police forces in England and Wales.
He added: “It is actually a figure that is 100 officers larger than the entirety of the British Transport Police. So, these are colossal numbers we’re talking about here and a really significant challenge.”
According to Police Scotland HR director, Caroline Carruthers, 39,078 working days had been lost to officer long-term absence in the first quarter of 2026-27.
David Threadgold, chairman of the Scottish Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers, said the number of officers in the category was having an “operational impact”.
He told policing and justice publication 1919 Magazine: “The service has to have a plan to deal with the number of officers who are unable to provide 24/7 core policing functions. It is particularly acute for operational policing. If you are undeployable or your modification is that you cannot do night shifts, then you cannot do 24/7 shifts.”
Mr Threadgold continued: “There will be some cases where officers on modified duties can carry out back-office functions effectively. But using warranted officers to provide administrative functions in the back office is not helping Police Scotland deliver for the communities in Scotland.”
He added that the high number of officers on modified duties was a “symptom of increased demand, reduced workforce and continued exposure to extended trauma”.
In response to these statistics, the Scottish Conservatives laid the blame squarely with SNP “underfunding”. The party’s justice spokesman, Stephen Kerr MSP: “The first duty of government is to keep the public safe, and the SNP are failing to do this. Nearly 3,000 officers unable to carry out their full duties should be a wake-up call for the SNP.”
He added: “Any officer off work through illness or injury deserves the right support to recover and return to work where possible. But after 20 years of systematic SNP underfunding, Police Scotland has been stretched to the limit and is now struggling to maintain its capacity to keep people safe.
“The next Budget must properly support the force, restore officer numbers and put more officers on the frontline, before public safety is put further at risk.”
Liberal Democrats justice spokeswoman Yi-pei Chou Turvey said: “This is a staggering number of police officers who are unable to do their full job.” The Lib Dem MSP added: “Many of these officers are struggling because of the spiralling demand on their time and the failure of the SNP Government to properly support them.”
A Police Scotland spokesman said: “Police officers and staff do a difficult, at times dangerous, job and we have invested in improving the health and wellbeing support available to our people.
“Building a thriving workforce and maximising our capacity are important elements of supporting our front line, and we’re increasing support for managers and supervisors around areas including attendance management, flexible working and modified duties.”