PA MediaThe Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Chief Constable Jon Boutcher has been criticised by the top civil servant at the Department of Justice, for making a direct plea to the prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, for extra funding.
Hugh Widdis, permanent secretary at the department, wrote to Mr Boutcher after he wrote a letter to Mr Starmer outlining the financial and staffing issues facing the PSNI.
The leaked letter, first seen by The News Letter, Mr Widdis wrote to Mr Boutcher suggesting he had undermined the authority of the minister and the wider Stormont executive.
The Department of Justice has said it does not comment on leaked private letters.
Mr Widdis said there are “certain protocols” which “must be followed when engaging with the UK government on matters of funding”.
He added this was “in order to respect the constitutional arrangements in NI and, in particular, the authority of ministers in a devolved government”.
On Thursday, Mr Boutcher said his “role is to deliver an effective policing service for all communities in Northern Ireland”.
“This must be delivered with operational independence having regard to my Accounting Officer obligations of which I am very well aware,” he added.
He said he had a number of statutory responsibilities, “not least those set out in Section 32 of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000”, which he said requires him and his officers to:
- protect life and property
- preserve order
- prevent the commission of offences
- and where an offence has been committed, to take measures to bring the offender to justice
Mr Boutcher said that in seeking to discharge his duties he had been “highlighting the critical issue of PSNI funding and the significant under resourcing” since his appointment as chief constable.
‘Appalling’
Liam Kelly of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland said the letter sent to Mr Boutcher by the permanent secretary of the Department of Justice appeared to be a “high-handed attempt to gag, embarrass and chastise” him.
He said it was “appalling” and the “football equivalent of showing the chief constable a yellow card”.
“It is unlikely this letter was compiled as a solo run,” he added.
“Mr Widdis needs to clarify who endorsed this approach and explain their collective motivation and intention.
“In my view, the tone and tenor of this letter was disgraceful and was a crude attempt to put the chief constable firmly back in his box.”
Former Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie also said the letter sent to Mr Boutcher was “appalling”.
He told The Nolan Show on BBC Radio Ulster that the chief constable has “no choice but to recruit and in recruiting he’s going to be over budget”.
“If the Department of Justice won’t do something about it, I don’t know who will fight his corner,” he added.
“The budget he has been given is unworkable and people need to know that.”
Sir Keir Starmer met Mr Boutcher, injured police officers and people from minority communities in Belfast, earlier this week.
Dozens of PSNI officers were injured as they dealt with racially-motivated trouble on Belfast’s streets in recent weeks, linked to anti-immigration protests.
The prime minister called the recent racially-motivated violence in Northern Ireland “intolerable”.
Mr Widdis was appointed as the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Justice in April of this year.
He was previously the head of the government legal service for Northern Ireland, and Departmental Solicitor for the Northern Ireland Executive.
The chief constable is on-record as stating the PSNI budget has suffered a real-term cut of 29% since 2010.
Earlier this month, he told the Northern Ireland Policing Board it had projected funding pressures of £140m this year.
This includes the estimated compensation costs over a major data leak in 2023.
PSNI officer numbers have been at record lows for more than a year; it currently has about 6,300.
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