DUP calls for justice minister Naomi Long to apologise to Assembly over justice letter rebuking the Chief Constable
A DUP motion calling for the justice minister to apologise over a letter from her permanent secretary reprimanding the chief constable for seeking extra funding from the prime minister has been branded a “stunt” by Naomi Long’s colleagues.
The Alliance leader has defended her current approach, saying the PSNI cannot be given additional funding at the expense of other parts of the criminal justice system – and said that the leaking of the letter had not been “helpful”.
The minister has been under growing scrutiny in recent weeks over what she is doing to secure extra funding for the PSNI, which has fallen far below the target numbers.
Doug Beattie said at the weekend that the PSNI has been “slowly degraded” on Naomi Long and the Alliance Party’s watch while the Police Federation chair said the justice minister “needs to do more”.
The ongoing row started last month when a letter – leaked to the News Letter – from justice permanent secretary Hugh Widdis to Jon Boutcher, said he had undermined the authority of the minister and the wider executive by outlining to the prime minister the financial and staffing issues facing the force.
On Monday, the DUP brought a motion to the Assembly supporting the Chief Constable’s approach.
It noted “with growing concern the serious pressures facing local and neighbourhood policing, crime investigations and rank and file officers as a result of chronic underfunding”.
The motion called on the Assembly to deplore “recent correspondence issued by the Department of Justice criticising the PSNI’s efforts to secure extra funding from the UK Government; shares the Police Federation’s view that this was an attempt to gag, embarrass and chastise the Chief Constable; calls on the Minister of Justice to apologise; and further calls on the Minister to urgently recommit to reversing the decline in police funding and police officer numbers”.
Alliance MLA Stewart Dickson said the motion was “disingenuous” and “seeking to sensationalize the routine business of the department”. His colleague Nuala McAllister, who sits on the Policing Board, said her party is fully aware of the financial context in which we find ourselves.
“We know the Block Grant is inadequate. We know that the PSNI are not fully resourced”, the North Belfast MLA said – adding that the minister had said this “time and again”. Ms McAllister said when the executive had more money to spend, “it never sought to prioritise policing and justice”.
The DUP MLA Joanne Bunting, who chairs Stormont’s justice committee, contrasted the situation facing the PSNI with policing in the Republic of Ireland – whose budget she said is increasing by 25%.the police are involved in much more than crime, which is also hugely increased in complexity.
She said unlike any other police service in the UK, the PSNI are not permitted to hold reserves or borrow money, and are expected to plan for the long term on a year to year budget.
“Everything has consequences. Even before this unprecedented crisis, the PSNI has been feeling the effects of the losses”, Ms Bunting said.