Draft Programme for Government a missed opportunity, says PFNI

PFNI chair Liam Kelly said none of the immediate priorities outlined in the Northern Ireland Executive’s document deals specifically with the crisis in policing.

Among the nine priorities, the draft programme promises to “actively seek to achieve a sufficient number of police officers in line with NDNA commitments” and drive investment in digital capabilities across criminal justice organisations.

However, Mr Kelly says this fails to recognise the “harsh realities” confronting the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

“The draft Programme for Government is a missed opportunity,” said Mr Kelly.

“Not one of the nine immediate priorities deals specifically with the crisis in policing.

“This Federation believes this is a failure to recognise the harsh realities confronting the PSNI. Inevitably, without ringfenced spending commitments over the next three years, we will see a further deterioration in officer numbers and services.

“There is time to remedy this situation. The Programme for Government is a draft document and it can and should be re-written to more adequately reflect the stated objective of the initial PSNI Recovery Plan, which aims to boost service strength to 7,000 over three years.”

He added: “We will be making a full submission to this scant draft Programme for Government. which merely states that ministers will be ‘actively seeking to achieve a sufficient number of police officers in line with NDNA commitments’.

“There is the world of difference between ‘actively seeking’ to do something and actually delivering. We previously saw this in 2020 with NDNA commitments to boost numbers to 7,500, which were never funded.

“Our disappointment is acute. We have been let down yet again by politicians who appear to place no real value on the work our men and women do daily, often at great personal risk.”

Read the full draft document at https://www.northernireland.gov.uk/PFG-Documents