Officers eligible for paternity leave from 2022 to 2024

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.25.042889

I note you seek access to the following information:

For the most recent three years you have data;

1. How many officers were eligible for paternity leave.
2. How many officers took paternity leave.
3. and for how many weeks on average.
4. If you have this data, what % of officers who have resigned voluntarily over the last three years cited the impact of their job on their family as a reason

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full. Please find below information pursuant to your request above.

Q1 - For the most recent three years you have data; How many officers were eligible for paternity leave.

The MPS can provide the following in terms of numbers;

2022 – 1039
2023 – 1038
2024 – 965

Data Caveat
Data was collected as follows:
• Requests for Service (RFS) for types of Paternity Birth requests & Paternity Adoption requests were taken.
• Only those in status of ‘closed’ and approved were selected.
• The request created date was selected for the year (any request created in 2022 was selected as 2022 irrespective of update date). Due to the nature of the available data we have, update date is not necessarily approval date hence why this decision was taken. The MPS would expect the 2024 numbers to rise though as further approvals are given to in process records (this can take significant time).
• An RFS is the way expected Paternity is communicated to the managers. This will only count those who raised an RFS. Unfortunately it is not a requirement and Paternity Leave can be requested via normal means without an RFS.

Q2 -For the most recent three years you have data; How many officers took paternity leave

The MPS can provide the following in terms of numbers;

2022 – 844
2023 – 859
2024 – 862

Data Caveat
Data was taken as follows:

• Absence types of Paternity Birth & Paternity Adoption was taken.
• All absences within a calendar year was counted.
• Items starting in one calendar year and finishing in another would have been counted in both years. This means that there are some paternity leave starting in 2021 and finishing in 2022, and some starting 2024 and finishing 2025. 

Q3 - and for how many weeks on average.

The MPS can provide the average length (weeks of paternity):

Mean = 1.65 weeks
Mode = 2 weeks
Median = 2.42 weeks

Data Caveat
Data was taken as follows:

• Absence types of Paternity Birth & Paternity Adoption was taken.
• All absences within a calendar year was counted.
• Items starting in one calendar year and finishing in another would have been counted in both years. This means that there are some paternity leave starting in 2021 and finishing in 2022, and some starting 2024 and finishing 2025.

Q4 - If you have this data, what % of officers who have resigned voluntarily over the last three years cited the impact of their job on their family as a reason.

The MPS does not collate this figure as a number to which we can refer. The information as a figure is not held.