Derry & Strabane reps warned police don't have budget 'to provide full services'

Chairman Liam Kelly gave a deputation to Derry City and Strabane’s Governance and Strategic Planning Committee on Tuesday of this week.

Mr Kelly said that the PSNI had 6,557 officers and 2,358 police staff members, with a yearly reduction of ‘30 or 40’ of each as a ‘direct consequence of PSNI operating in a deficit budget’.

This financial year started with a negative budget of £141 million, which has been reduced to £52 million.

He said: “This means that if the PSNI were allocated £52 million we would have a balanced budget, so we’re in a really bad place, and not of our own making.

“Policing doesn’t have the budget to provide the full services that it can, and we’re starting to see the consequences of that now.

“From April this year we have had no recruitment of officers, as well officers leaving due to retirement or those early and mid-career leaving because we can’t pay competitive salaries.

“It’s also a sad reflection that, some 25 years after the Good Friday Agreement, that we still have a terrorist threat to officers both on and off duty.

“The attacks, compounded by the data breach in Summer, has resulted in spiralling sickness levels and reduced resources.

“We’ve seen increased workloads and morale has plummeted. Because of no remuneration uplift, we’ve seen Junior Officers moving on to other careers.”

Mr Kelly added: “We’re a service of first and last resort. We are who society calls upon when things go wrong.

"What would happen if PSNI couldn’t provide their full statutory function? Because I believe we’re getting to that point now, due to the crippling budget.”

He said the police are now having to ‘pick up the slack’ in providing things like social services and mental health support, but won’t be able to if the budget isn’t addressed.

He said budgeting was ‘difficult’ due to a lack of a Government and the Conservative Party’s focus on ‘survival’ in the upcoming election.

"Policing is well down the political radar in Westminster,’ he said. ‘So no additional budget has been provided to ensure the services can be maintained.”

"We’ve already seen the decimation of our neighbourhood policing team, reduced visibility of police, reduced community interactions, and a decline in reporting to police.

"We’re not responding effectively, leading to poorer justice outcomes and reduced confidence in police.

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"Unfortunately, there are crime and terrorist gangs who are quite willing to step into the void and that’s a danger we don’t want to see happening.

"Crime is rising in Derry City and Strabane in 2023, so we need the Government to produce a proper budget to enable us to start recruiting again, resulting in better criminal justice outcomes and confidence in policing."

Some Councillors argued that a poor public opinion of police was due to factors other than a lack of resources.

Waterside Sinn Féin District Councillor Christopher Jackson agreed that public services were under attack by ‘a cabinet of millionaires in London’.

However, he said the low confidence in the Police was also due to the Police Federation’s decision to support a judicial review against an Ombudsman report that highlighted RUC collusion.

"We’ve expressed our dismay at police representatives like the Police Federation attempting, and using resources, to deny victims’ families access to truth and justice.

"Is it the role of the Federation to defend the RUC’s actions? Because that’s the core of the current confidence issue."

Foyleside People Before Profit District Councillor Shaun Harkin claimed that the police was an organisation that people ‘don’t have confidence in’, due to factors other than budget and resources.

He pointed to previous discussions in Council chamber about ‘police and how it antagonises communities’ and policing during Black Lives Matter, as well as what he said were ‘huge levels of misogyny’, while claiming that ‘now we’re seeing harassment of Palestine solidarity activists and striking workers.’

"There is huge concern about the slashing of budgets, but the funding for the police isn’t going to be high on people’s concerns.”

Mr Kelly said the Ombudsman report ‘affects members and retired officers’, leading to ‘legal action’.

He said it was ‘not to hinder justice, but to make sure it’s done fairly, proportionately and appropriately’.

SDLP District Councillor Brian Tierney highlighted his concerns about the internal issues within the PSNI due to a lack of budget.

He said: "There are data breaches, increased terrorist activity, spiralling sickness levels and no increased recruitment or remuneration. These are all internal issues, but all impact wider society.

"People say it doesn’t matter we’re not in Stormont, but here’s another example how having local, accountable ministers can help ordinary people.”

Mr Kelly concluded: "An effective budget will not only allow police to provide functions, but will have a transformational effect across society.

‘If we can provide a better police service, that can only have better outcomes for our society in general.”

The Federation Mr Kelly chairs came into being in July 1971 by virtue of the Police Act (NI) 1970, and it describes itself as ‘a representative body, similar to a trade union, but without the right to resort to industrial action’.

"All ranks up to and including Chief Inspector are represented by us,” the Federation states.

Andrew Balfour,

Local Democracy Reporter