UUP MLA Mike Nesbitt claims Finance Minister Conor Murphy’s draft budget fails on policing recommendations

The finance minister’s three-year budget plan leaves the PSNI struggling to make up numbers, according to UUP’s Mike Nesbitt.
By Graeme Cousins
Published 13th Dec 2021, 17:13 BST
UUP MLA Mike Nesbitt fears that the draft budget will impact the number of police officers on the street. Picture by Arthur Allison/Pacemaker Press.UUP MLA Mike Nesbitt fears that the draft budget will impact the number of police officers on the street. Picture by Arthur Allison/Pacemaker Press.
UUP MLA Mike Nesbitt fears that the draft budget will impact the number of police officers on the street. Picture by Arthur Allison/Pacemaker Press.

Conor Murphy has allocated an additional £14.8 million per year from 2022 to 2025 for policing, but Mr Nesbitt expressed his disappointment that the £44.4 million total is some £30.2 million short of what is needed to raise the number of officers to the 7,500 mark recommended by Chris Patten in his review of policing 20 years ago.

The UUP’s policing spokesperson said: “I shall be writing to the chief constable for his assessment of where that leaves the service in terms of how many additional officers they can afford to recruit and the implications, especially for neighbourhood policing, which must be at the heart of the PSNI’s activity.”

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The UUP MLA’s comments come as the finance minister yesterday launched a public consultation on the draft budget in which he has proposed a 10% increase in health spending in Northern Ireland, with £21 billion earmarked for services over the next three years.

While none of the other departments would see a reduction in their baseline allocation from the last budget, they will be 2% down on what they would have expected to receive if extra funding were not being diverted to health.

Minister Murphy said: “As an executive we have publicly committed to make health our top priority. This draft budget honours that commitment.

“Prioritising health does however present significant challenges for other departments and I will work with other Ministers to find solutions to those challenges.”

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Public consultation on the 2022-2025 Draft Budget is now open at www.finance-ni.gov.uk/budget-consultation and will run until March 7.

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