The Ulster Unionist Party’s Policing Spokesperson, Mike Nesbitt MLA has called on the Justice Minister to provide clarity following the news that she has sanctioned an increase in Prison Officer numbers to preserve safety, whilst at the same time Police numbers will be frozen and the recruitment process halted due to a cash shortage.

Mike Nesbitt said:

“This morning the Director General of the NI Prison Service said that he had been given the approval of the Justice Minister to recruit 60 more staff - without funding - to keep Maghaberry Prison safe.  

“If the Director of the Prison Service has a number of officers below which the Prison Service cannot safely run our prisons, then the question arises as to what number of Police Officers the Chief Constable needs for the Police Service to keep the public safe?

“Just two days ago we were told that budget pressures meant the PSNI was unable to recruit new officers. Instead of a Police Service of 7,500 officers as recommended in the New Decade New Approach commitment, we are almost 650 short of that with a freeze on recruitment.

“In February of this year the Chief Constable warned in his Accountability Report to the Policing Board that the impacts of achieving a balanced budget would include ‘a smaller and unrecognisable Police Service by 2025; the Police Service will, ‘by necessity, be less visible, less accessible and less responsive, affecting confidence in and support for policing and overall levels of community safety.’

“My question today is very simple. If the Justice Minister is prepared to allow the Director of the Prison Service to recruit additional staff to keep prisons safe, why will she not allow the Chief Constable of the PSNI to recruit the officers he needs to keep our streets safe?”