UNIONISTS AND nationalist members of the policing board have denounced a call for £17 million in cuts by the Northern Ireland Office (NIO).
The police service has an annual budget of £1.2 billion but only a small proportion of this is “flexible” funding which can be used at the discretion of the chief constable.
Unionists and Sinn Féin members of the policing board, which oversees the PSNI, said the insistence on funding cuts would hit frontline policing. They are angry at the NIO’s call for cuts contained in a letter. “If we cannot achieve our target, then the business performance review team will be asked to review budgets. . . and recommend ways of securing the required savings,” it said.
However the NIO said last night it was not making any funding threats to the policing board, nor was it warning that it would act to make savings at the PSNI in the event that the board does not.
The NIO also stressed that policing would be asked to share the burden of some £5 billion in efficiency savings demanded by government in response to the recession and the fall in the government’s tax take.
Ulster Unionist policing board member Basil McCrea said last night: “Only 14 per cent of the police budget is flexible – that’s about £168 million.
“These two most recent cuts amount to £30 million. That’s nearly a fifth of the total flexible budget. How can the PSNI maintain a public service without adequate funding?
“It would appear to me that the police budget is in crisis. This further £17 million cut will no doubt come as a further blow to the PSNI at a time of increased financial constraints.”
DUP Assembly member Jimmy Spratt said his party will “vigorously oppose any resource changes which will have a negative impact on the quality of policing”.
Sinn Féin policing boardv member Alex Maskey was also critical of the funding move. The issue is expected to be raised at a meeting of the Policing Boardtoday.