Question
At last month’s Resource Committee meeting, the question of a new PSNI absence target was raised, but no clear timeframe was provided as to when this would be available.
Can the Chief Operating Officer, advise when the new target will be finalised and available to the Board?
Answer
The Service-wide Attendance Management Group is responsible for considering attendance performance and recommending the Annual Working Days Lost (AWDL) target to PSNI’s Service Performance Board.
In May 2026, the Group considered the AWDL outturn for the 2025/26 financial year and noted the following:
- The full-year outturn for 2025/2026 was 18.60 AWDL for Police officers and 10.24 for police staff. The target AWDL are 14.11 and 10.31 respectively. The police officer AWDL figure includes those Officers who are on the IHR pathway. Excluding IHR the outturn for 2025/26 was 12.64 ADWL.
PSNI’s methodology for calculating AWDL was agreed in 2019 and is based on actual performance over the last 5 years as well as taking account of industry averages (policing and NICS). Furthermore any additional significant factors (e.g. impact of IHR on PSNI AWDL), as well as the principle of ensuring continuous improvement by confirming the target sets a stretch for the organisation.
- Applying the current methodology for setting the 2026/27 target, based on the average AWDL over the preceding five years, would result in targets of 19.23 AWDL for police officers and 11.17 AWDL for police staff. This is mainly due to the higher number of Officers who were on the IHR pathway in the reference period.
- There are encouraging indications that the increased focus on attendance management is delivering positive results. Police officer AWDL reduced by circa 19%, from 22.85 in 2024/25 to 18.60 in 2025/26. Police staff AWDL reduced by circa 8%, from 11.15 in 2024/25 to 10.24 in 2025/26.
- Furthermore the number of new applications for IHR Financial Year to Date is 55 compared with 275 in the last 2 financial years. This is likely to yield a positive impact on AWDL lost for police officers as those on an IHR pathway have disproportionately contributed to the AWDL for Police Officers.
In light of the above, the Attendance Management Group recommended retaining the stretch target of 14.11 AWDL for police officers and 10.31 AWDL for police staff, while ensuring that managers are appropriately equipped to support colleagues to maintain their health and facilitate their return to work as promptly as possible.
Fank McManus