PFNI condemns ‘appalling’ letter sent to chief constable over funding appeal to PM

The leaked letter, first reported by the News Letter, suggests that Jon Boutcher undermined the role of devolved Stormont ministers by making a direct approach to the Prime Minister over the “funding famine” facing the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

PFNI chair Liam Kelly labelled the letter from Hugh Widdis as “appalling” and the football equivalent of showing the chief constable a yellow card.

“Mr Boutcher was right to go over the heads of local Ministers and appeal directly to the Prime Minister,” said Mr Kelly.

“He was forced to do that because he has already evidenced and outlined to ministers the facts around the critical position policing is in.

“From the minute he was appointed, he has been making the case for more resources, but nothing tangible has changed. The ongoing dithering and procrastination at local level has dictated his actions.

“The Service is in crisis mode. Officer numbers are alarmingly shrinking, workplace pressures and demands are unsustainable and breaking our officers, and services are having to be pared back.

“We have politicians and departments that are seemingly more concerned with their positions of power and slavishly following their protocols and processes rather than actually fixing a problem that is getting worse.”

He added: “In my view, the tone and tenor of this letter was disgraceful and was a crude attempt to put the chief constable firmly back in his box.

“Mr Widdis seemingly sought to chastise and gag Jon Boutcher with this high-handed and menacing letter. It was a shocking insight into how a senior civil servant regards our chief constable without as much as a mention of the officers who were injured in street unrest or a credible acceptance of the day-to-day struggle to make ends meet with a wholly inadequate budget.

“Policing is on its knees and the pleas for positive intervention are not being heeded.

“This Federation completely supports Mr Boutcher and what he is doing to highlight the funding ‘famine’ and adverse impact on our officers and the policing services they provide. He cannot be put in a ‘straitjacket’.”

Mr Kelly said warning the chief constable of ‘consequences’ for going outside Civil Service referral processes is “risible if it wasn’t so serious”.

“Attempting to gag the chief constable to prevent him from speaking out about the cuts and the failure of Stormont to campaign for a proper budget is yet more evidence of a system that is dysfunctional and broken,” he added.

“We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Mr Boutcher and say loudly to our politicians, Mr Widdis, and his peers, to get real around this crisis in policing rather than resorting to what can only be viewed as coercive tactics to curtail, restrain and admonish someone who is doing his level best for both the Service and this entire community.”

Justice Minister Naomi Long said it was “regrettable that private correspondence has been leaked” but “fully supports” the call for additional funding.

In a statement in response to media reporting in relation to the leaked correspondence, Ms Long said: “The Permanent Secretary in any Department is the Principal Accounting Officer for that Department.  This carries with it responsibility for ensuring the regularity and propriety of departmental expenditure, for promoting value for money and for ensuring there are robust systems of corporate governance and financial control within the department including living within the budgetary controls set by the Assembly.

“The Department of Justice Permanent Secretary and Accounting Officer, Hugh Widdis, recently wrote to the chief constable in relation to his role as accounting officer for the PSNI. Such correspondence is entirely appropriate, and it is regrettable that private correspondence has since been leaked.

“The substantive issue, however, is the underfunding of the justice system, which I have been consistently raising. As a result, the PSNI is under resourced, and officers and staff are under extraordinary pressure due to falling numbers.

“Whilst that pressure is significant even when things are calm, it is compounded when there is unrest such as we witnessed over recent weeks, in which officers were injured whilst keeping our communities safe.

“The position the PSNI are in now is as a direct result of budgets being continually squeezed over many years. I fully support the call for additional funding, and I met with the chief constable last week to discuss how we can jointly maximise our ability to secure more resources. I have also raised the need for more investment with the Secretary of State and the Prime Minister.

“I have also offered the support of my officials to help the PSNI build a sustainable and robust case for extra funding to put to the Executive.

“I will continue to support and work with the chief constable and the PSNI in the coming weeks and months, and with Executive colleagues, to secure what funding I can.”

In a statement, Mr Boutcher said: “I am the chief constable of the PSNI and my role is to deliver an effective policing service for all communities in Northern Ireland.  This must be delivered with operational independence having regard to my Accounting Officer obligations of which I am very well aware.

“It is important to highlight that I have a number of statutory responsibilities, not least those set out in Section 32 of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000 which requires me and my officers:

• To protect life and property
• To preserve order
• To prevent the commission of offences
• Where an offence has been committed, to take measures to bring the offender to justice.

“In seeking to discharge my duties I have been highlighting the critical issue of PSNI funding and the significant under resourcing and I have been doing this since I became chief constable last October.

“I have and will continue to work with all stakeholders involved in the difficult challenges of police funding including, the Northern Ireland Executive, First Minster, Deputy First Minister, Justice Minister and Westminster to ensure the Police Service of Northern Ireland has the funding necessary to deliver the policing the people of Northern Ireland are entitled to while at the same time providing for the health and wellbeing of our police officers and police staff. I am sure we are all committed to this endeavour.”