Justice Minister ‘prioritises’ funding for PSNI in her budget plan
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has been allocated an additional £36.7 million by Justice Minister Naomi Long, which she says will “sustain and stabilise policing” in the next financial year.
PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher “warmly welcomed” the Justice Minister’s announcement, which means the “full funding gap will be met”.
The Northern Ireland Department of Justice was allocated an additional £39.3 million by the Executive following the October ‘monitoring round’, which includes £2.75 million for the civil disorder that was seen during the summer.
Announcing her budget plan, Ms Long said: “I welcome the recent announcement and allocation of an additional £39.3 million by the Executive. This will go some way to alleviating the significant pressures being experienced across the justice system.
“There are many areas of justice that are experiencing unprecedented pressures, and I have had to make decisions to direct additional funding to where I believe it will make the most impact at this time.
“This includes an additional allocation of £36.7 million to the PSNI.
“This further funding meets in full the pressures identified by the PSNI to sustain and stabilise policing in this financial year.”
Mr Boutcher said: “I am very grateful to the Justice Minister for her decision to prioritise support for policing. This is great news for the Police Service – it provides financial certainty this year and will allow us to stabilise and maintain service levels to the public.
“However, we need to see the security of sufficient, sustainable funding continued into next year as we enter a much needed period of recovery for the PSNI. We will continue to work with the Department of Justice to develop a business case to recover officer and staff numbers to 7,000 and 2,572 respectively over the next three years.
“I am particularly pleased that this announcement will enable progress to be made on this year’s pay award for officers.”
Police Federation for Northern Ireland chair Liam Kelly said the funding is “a desperately needed “’, but warned that further work will be required next year to put the PSNI back on the path to recovery.
Mr Kelly said: “The announcement by the Justice Minister eases worry and concern. I’m particularly pleased that the chief constable believes it will open the door to achieving progress on this year’s pay award.
“Our officers have been waiting since September for an annual pay increase and my hope is that it can be fast-tracked by both the Departments of Justice and Finance in time for Christmas.
“The extra funding is what was required to address financial pressures, including the pay award, and to safeguard the range of services provided. We have consistently argued for this level of funding to stabilise policing in what’s left of this financial year.
“More than that, we must now start work on a meaningful recovery plan to recruit hundreds more officers. We’re currently sitting at 6,300 when we should be 7,500 officers. We simply cannot go below that figure, otherwise we are in an irreversible spiral.
“The talk is of 7,000 over the next three years. If we can secure that commitment from the Justice Minister and the Executive, it will be a promising first step towards re-building and placing the PSNI on a solid footing.”
Ms Long said her department has been “proactive” in working to reduce expenditure and to live within budget, including making “tough decisions on vacancy management”.
“Coupled with some easements arising from demand in our prisons being slightly less than anticipated, the department has been able to reprioritise a further £7.4 million to help address pressures elsewhere,” she said.
“I am also allocating £5.2 million to Legal Aid, which will enable the processing of more legal aid payments and reduced payment times. I hope this will alleviate some of the strain being reported by the legal profession at this time.”
“While the improved budget will offer some reassurance and stability, we must be cognisant of the challenges that remain, including a shortfall in meeting exceptional pressures of £227 million.
“We are very much demand-led, and the majority of my department’s costs are inescapable. We cannot control the volume of calls to the PSNI; the number of cases in our courts; the amount of legal aid required to provide access to justice; the amount of compensation claims; or the number of people committed to our prisons or placed on probation.
“I am determined in my efforts to continue to push for a better financial settlement for the Department of Justice.”