Funding ‘key to delivering ambitious policing plan’

Securing a £200 million funding bid has been described as key to fully delivering an ambitious new plan for the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

The Policing Plan 2025-2030 aims for a victim-focused service, which inspires confidence in the community with a representative and valued workforce.

It also prioritises tackling violence against women and girls, and hate crime.

With police officer numbers at a historic low of 6,300, and 2,200 staff, it is aimed to increase numbers to 7,000 officers and 2,572 staff over the next three years.

The plan was published by the PSNI and the Northern Ireland Policing Board on Thursday morning, alongside the first annual performance plan to evaluate progress against delivery of the plan.

However the full delivery of the plan is described as reliant on the approval of a business case submitted by the PSNI to the Department of Justice for more than £200 million in additional funding over the next five years.

Deputy Chief Constable Bobby Singleton said they can only deliver the service they are funded to deliver.

“Irrespective of our funding situation, there will be a requirement for us to be as effective and efficient with the resources that we’re given, but it is as simple as this, we will provide the service that we can afford to provide within the budget envelope that is provided to us,” he said.

“The plan is clear, and the board are clear in terms of their support for us in terms of the requirement for additional police resources.”

Mr Singleton added: “I would say that people take for granted the safety and security that we are fortunate to have here in Northern Ireland.

“This is one of the safest places to live, work and raise a family in these islands, but at this moment in time it’s really only down to the unwavering dedication and commitment of our officers and staff, and it’s simply unfair to continue to ask them to make the sacrifices that they’re making in order to do that.”

Earlier this week, a report by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) found that continued financial pressures facing the PSNI are likely to continue to affect the service it provides.

Mr Singleton said it was “very clear about the impacts that are being experienced within the service”.

He added: “The delays that are now beginning to manifest in really critical areas like child internet protection and offender management, and unless we get additional resources, it is nigh on impossible for us to be able to make meaningful change to that in the medium to long term.

“There are things we can do in the short term, and we will in order to keep communities safe, but if we want to have the kind of society that we all aspire towards, then we need a properly funded and resourced police service.

“That means making policing a priority in not only the (Stormont) programme for government but also future comprehensive spending reviews.”

Policing Board chairman Mukesh Sharma described the plan as focusing attention on the future.

“We strongly believe that working to these outcomes will enable PSNI to deliver effective policing that is visible, accessible, responsive, victim focused and continually improving,” he said.

“This plan does not exist in a vacuum and we cannot achieve these ambitions on hope and hard work alone.

“Investment in the police service and indeed the wider criminal justice system will be critical to meeting the ambitions of this plan over the course of the next five years.”