Ulster Unionist Party Finance Spokesperson, Dr. Steve Aiken OBE MLA, has commented on the current crisis in policing funding, and the seeming lack of support from the Department of Justice for the Chief Constable.

Speaking as a news story on the Justice Permanent Secretary writing to Jon Boucher broke, Dr. Aiken commented.

“The funding crisis hitting policing has been well signalled and long anticipated. That the Chief Constable had to appeal directly to the Prime Minister should be a point of negotiation the Justice Minister could have been using with her Executive colleagues, instead of detailing her Permanent Secretary to chastise her leading police officer.

“The Ulster Unionist Party and our Health Minister took a different approach, we talked directly to the Trusts and when they told us, categorically, that they could not deliver, we listened and did not sign off on the budget.

“That the Justice Minister appears to have ignored the pleas of the Chief Constable is bad enough, by not making a strong stand in the same way our minister and party have, is undermining vital police services.

“A budget stance at the time from the Justice Minister and her party colleagues, similar to the UUP, could well have helped to provide additional pressure that may have prompted a positive response from the Treasury.

“That the Justice Department Permanent Secretary, who it will be remembered recommended the removal of the Health Minister during CoVID, is still threatening interference with vital public services should also be a matter of considerable concern.”