​Long prioritises PSNI in budget spending plans - with bulk of additional cash to 'sustain and stabilise' policing

​The decision has been warmly welcomed by the PSNI’s chief constable who said it meets the force’s “full funding gap” – and will allow progress on this year’s pay award for officers.

The decision comes after months of wrangling between the police and justice department – where Jon Boutcher was reprimanded by Naomi Long’s top official over his attempts to secure funding directly from the Prime Minister.

The Department of Justice was allocated an additional £39.3m after the autumn budget which includes £2.75m for the civil disorder during the summer. Minister Naomi Long allocated the vast bulk of that to the PSNI.

However, there are wider financial problems facing the police service – with potentially hundreds of millions of pounds that will have to be found to deal with issues such as the leak of officers’ personal data; unresolved holiday pay claims; and pension age discrimination claims. The department of finance is understood to be in negotiations with Treasury about these.

“I welcome the recent announcement and allocation of an additional £39.3m by the Executive. This will go some way to alleviating the significant pressures being experienced across the justice system”, Minister Long said.

The Alliance leader added: “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 £36.7m to the PSNI. This further funding meets in full the pressures identified by the PSNI to sustain and stabilise policing in this financial year”.

Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said “I warmly welcome the Justice Minister’s announcement which means the Police Service’s full funding gap will be met.

“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.”

The justice minister announced her budget plan following the October Monitoring round. She 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 £7.4m to help address pressures elsewhere”.

​Mrs Long also allocated £5.2m to Legal Aid, which she said will enable the processing of more legal aid payments and reduced payment times – and alleviate “some of the strain being reported by the legal profession at this time”.

“Whilst 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 £227m. 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.”

In August, Jon Boutcher has defended his organisation’s “operational independence” amid a row over a reprimand of the PSNI chief by Naomi Long’s top official, over his decision to write to the Prime Minister requesting more funding.

In leaked correspondence, obtained by the News Letter, the justice department’s permanent secretary Hugh Widdis told Mr Boutcher 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.

The official also warned Mr Boutcher about “protocols which must be followed” and highlighted other instances where the department had reprimanded him.