New regulations amending the Police Regulations 2003 will come into force on 29 December 2025 across England and Wales. The Police (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/1274), signed by Home Office Minister of State Sarah Jones on 4 December and laid before Parliament on 8 December, adjust rules on part‑time appointments, probation and overtime parity, and the way annual leave may be taken.
Regulation 3 updates regulation 5 of the 2003 Regulations. It removes the requirement for chief officers to consult local representatives of the representative bodies before appointing a person on a part‑time basis. It also confirms that part‑time officers must be treated in the same way as full‑time officers for probation and overtime.
In operational terms, ending the local consultation step is intended to shorten decision‑making on part‑time appointments. Chief officers remain responsible for workforce planning and must continue to comply with national terms and equality duties; however, a discrete pre‑appointment consultation with local representatives under regulation 5 is no longer required.
The parity provision standardises treatment during probation and when authorising or paying overtime. Forces should review policies, supervisor guidance and payroll rules to ensure equal treatment is applied and that legacy practices do not create divergence between part‑time and full‑time officers.
Regulation 4 amends regulation 33 by replacing references to “days” with “periods”, enabling annual leave to be granted and taken for any length of time. This allows sub‑day bookings, including hours, and permits leave to be taken as a number of different periods rather than only in whole or half days.
For HR and duty‑management teams, the change to “periods” will require updates to local policies, rostering tools and payroll interfaces so that leave can be requested and recorded in hours and mixed blocks. The amendment does not change the total annual leave entitlement set by the 2003 Regulations; it changes only the unit and flexibility of how leave is taken.
The instrument is made under section 50(1), 2(c) and 2(j) of the Police Act 1996. In accordance with section 50(2ZC), the College of Policing has approved the text for the relevant matters. For issues within section 52A(1), the Secretary of State did not seek advice from the Senior Salaries Review Body or refer matters to the Police Remuneration Review Body, considering this unnecessary given the nature of the changes; a draft was supplied to representative interests under section 52A(6) and any representations were considered.
The Regulations extend to England and Wales only. They leave pay rates, service lengths and headline leave entitlements unchanged. The practical effect is to streamline part‑time appointments, require equal treatment for part‑time officers on probation and overtime, and allow annual leave to be booked in flexible time periods.