'Neither incompetence nor cover up' - Stormont's justice minister defends not telling Assembly about Police Ombudsman's resignation offer
Stormont’s justice minister has denied deliberately withholding information from the Assembly about an offer of resignation from the Police Ombudsman – after questions about when she became aware of the issue.
Naomi Long has also been quizzed on why the Department of Justice didn’t refer a request from Marie Anderson to step down to His Majesty the King, and instead dealt with the matter itself.
It follows a revelation from an Ulster Unionist MLA earlier this week that Marie Anderson had offered to quit the role hours after an incident at her home, to which police were called.
Jon Burrows revealed that the head of the police watchdog had emailed the former permanent secretary of the Department of Justice (DoJ) Richard Pengelly to say that she was stepping down, but that was “parked” an hour later.
Marie Anderson was investigated by police for alleged misconduct in public office and also for the potential offence of perverting the course of justice following a domestic incident in 2023. West Midlands Police were tasked with investigating further aspects of the incident, but prosecutors said there was no reasonable prospect of conviction for any criminal offence.
She subsequently faced calls to step aside from her role – and this week the UUP called for her resignation, saying confidence in her is “in tatters”.
On Tuesday, DUP MLA Jonathan Buckley submitted an urgent question at Stormont over the issues raised by Mr Burrows – bringing Mrs Long before the Assembly to face questions. The Upper Bann MLA asked Mrs Long when she became aware that a resignation had been tendered.
The Alliance leader said that she was first made aware of the issue on 12th February 2024. She also said that her department had no “specific powers” to “temporarily suspend or otherwise interfere with the ombudsman’s term of office”.
The justice minister said that the resignation could only be accepted by His Majesty the King, and the then-permanent secretary of her department had “no vires” to accept Marie Anderson’s request to quit.
Mr Buckley said that the minister had been asked “over a dozen times” about the “position and credibility of the ombudsman” – but had never notified MLAs that she had tendered her resignation.
“Why did she deliberately withhold this information from the Assembly? Was it incompetence or cover up?”, the Upper Bann MLA asked.
The justice minister responded: “I did not deliberately withhold the information in question from the Assembly. It was neither incompetence nor cover up”.
A number of DUP MLAs questioned the minister on why she did not divulge the information when asked on previous occasions about whether the police ombudsman should step aside. However, she said the information was “not relevant” to the issue.
“By the time I came to this house, it had been made clear to the ombudsman that the resignation that was tendered prior to me taking up office was not tendered to the appropriate person – and that was then withdrawn”, she said.
Mrs Long said the Executive Office is responsible for “matters pertaining to the police ombudsman and her employment”.
North Antrim MLA Jon Burrows also quizzed the minister on the correspondence between the Police Ombudsman and the DoJ in 2023. “The response, because I have the response, was not that we have no vires to take it. It was – and I quote – ‘after a brief chat just now, I’ve agreed to park this email and no action will be taken’. That is a decision”, he said.
While acknowledging that Mrs Long was not in office at the time, the UUP politician asked the minister to explain why she was not transparent about the resignation email, which he said was “clearly bungled” by the department.
“They either didn’t have the power to answer, or they did answer, wrongly” Mr Burrows said.
The minister said that “the only person who can answer as to the response that was given to Marie Anderson, either in a phone call or a private email, is Richard Pengelly – who was then the private secretary of my department”.
Asked by the TUV’s Timothy Gaston whether she would publish all the information around the resignation bid, Mrs Long said she is currently seeking legal advice.
Earlier this week, a spokesperson for the ombudsman’s office said it would be “inappropriate to comment on the matters raised” by Mr Burrows. Mrs Anderson is expected to finish her term this month.