Chief constable warns police officer numbers could fall

In his latest Accountability Report to the Northern Ireland Policing Board (NIPB), Simon Byrne said while this year’s recruitment campaign had been “encouraging”, meeting a target of 400 new officers “will not be possible” if there is a budget shortfall.

“The impact will be felt on service delivery, resilience and modernisation,” Mr Byrne told the NIPB.

Over the course this month’s three-week student officer recruitment campaign, a total of 5,311 people applied to begin a career in policing.

“The level of applications this year is encouraging. It demonstrates that policing is a career of choice in Northern Ireland,” said Mr Byrne.

“We are planning to recruit 400 additional police officers in the coming year. This is necessary to maintain officer numbers at 7,100.

“This is dependent on securing sufficient funding in the new budget. Without this, planned recruitment throughout the year will not be possible and police officer numbers will fall.”

Mr Byrne said the January Monitoring Exercise presents the last opportunity to adjust the police budget.

“A number of pressures remain unresolved from the October Monitoring Round and these have been resubmitted, including £3.4 million representing the shortfall in EU-exit funding and £3.2 million for depreciation charges,” said Mr Byrne.

“In addition, a bid has been included to cover new legacy-related costs. Given the sums involved, the outcome of our January Monitoring bid will be critical in determining the likely year-end financial out-turn.”

He added: “The budget outlook for next year and beyond remains uncertain and worrying. Discussions are ongoing within the Executive and we look forward to the publication of the draft budget so that we can consider the implications of any proposed settlement.

“We continue to make the case for improved baseline funding and investment in policing.”

The Police Federation for Northern Ireland (PFNI) said the new budget must “give policing the support it desperately needs”.

PFNI chair Mark Lindsay said Mr Byrne’s comments “were worrying and should concern us all”.

“The new budget must reflect the need to continue on a path of recruitment to fill posts left vacant by retiring officers and to expand the officer workforce,” he said.

“The current plan is to recruit 400 but, unless the funding is forthcoming, that plan may have to be abandoned or substantially scaled back. Even with the additional 400, we will still be 400 officers short of that promised in the Patten Report and committed to in the New Decade New Approach agreement.

“It would be unconscionable if finances were frozen in some arbitrary book-balancing exercise.”

Mr Lindsay added: “The consequences of starving the police service of the financial resources it needs are far-reaching.

“The public will not get the service it has a right to expect, and politicians would need to be mindful of that fact if they sign off on a budget that represents a backward step for policing.

“Police officers have had to do more with less for too long and it’s about time our decision-makers realised that officers are not robots but human beings who deserve a proper work-life balance and the resources they need to do the job. It’s time for policing to get the support it desperately needs.”