Naomi Long doubles down on 'entirely appropriate' letter to PSNI chief constable

By David Thompson
Published 22nd Aug 2024, 15:13 BST
Pacemaker Press 19/05/23 Alliance Leader Naomi Long at Belfast City Hall on Friday. Voters went to the polls on Thursday to decide who would represent them on the 11 councils. A total of 1,305,553 people were eligible to vote, according to the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland. Pic Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker:-Pacemaker Press 19/05/23 Alliance Leader Naomi Long at Belfast City Hall on Friday. Voters went to the polls on Thursday to decide who would represent them on the 11 councils. A total of 1,305,553 people were eligible to vote, according to the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland. Pic Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker:-
Pacemaker Press 19/05/23 Alliance Leader Naomi Long at Belfast City Hall on Friday. Voters went to the polls on Thursday to decide who would represent them on the 11 councils. A total of 1,305,553 people were eligible to vote, according to the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland. Pic Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker:-
Justice minister Naomi Long says a controversial letter from her permanent secretary to the head of the PSNI was “entirely appropriate” given his role as an accounting officer – and expressed regret that the “private correspondence” had been leaked.

​Her comments came after a chorus of criticism from political rivals – except Sinn Fein whose finance department was consulted on the letter.

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On Thursday morning the News Letter first reported the letter from Mrs Long’s permanent secretary Hugh Widdis to the chief constable – which suggested Jon Boutcher had undermined the authority of the minister.

In a statement the justice minister 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.

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“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.”

Related topics:Naomi LongPSNINews Letter

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