The Government's proposals to address Northern Ireland's troubled past will falter unless the region's police force receives adequate funding to manage the demand, the chief constable has cautioned.
Jon Boutcher's Warning
Jon Boutcher, the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), spoke after it emerged that the new Troubles Bill includes plans for a reformed Legacy Commission to handle historical cases. This legislation aims to replace the previous government's contentious Legacy Act and will also reinstate a limited number of legacy inquests.
Legacy-related costs currently amount to an estimated £24 million annually for the PSNI. During a meeting of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, Mr Boutcher endorsed the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee's call for a new, recurring, and ring-fenced funding stream specifically for legacy expenses.
Funding Pressures
He underscored ongoing financial strains on the service, noting that a budget agreement at Stormont remains unresolved two months into the new fiscal year. The PSNI faces projected resource funding shortfalls of £5 million, £92 million, and £149 million over the next three years. Capital funding is also described as being in "short supply" in the draft Stormont budget, 20% lower than the previous year, which Mr Boutcher said will quickly impact services.
He highlighted an "urgent but unfunded need to replace both public order vehicles and ageing air fleet." Mr Boutcher stated that the "exceptional pressures" from dealing with legacy cases reduce resources available for contemporary policing. He added that the committee's report supports his position that legacy costs are "exceptional" and "should not constrain contemporary policing."
Concerns Over Approach
Mr Boutcher expressed being "increasingly concerned" about the Government's "one-dimensional approach of focusing solely on the new Legacy Commission as the be all and end all for legacy." He warned, "Without the PSNI being funded to service the demands of this expanding body, the entire legacy project will fail." He emphasised that detectives and staff currently assigned to legacy cases should be redeployed elsewhere in the organisation, particularly to the Public Protection Branch, to address current issues.
