Chief constable 'speechless' at 'beyond disappointing' budget

The chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has described the executive budget as "beyond disappointing".

Jon Boutcher also said things are "probably going to get worse before it gets better" due to what he says is a lack of funding from the Northern Ireland executive.

The budget provided an additional £5 million "to make our communities safer and £2m towards ending violence against women and girls".

The PSNI currently has an all-time low of 6,300 officers and is seeking approximately £200m in additional funding from Stormont to boost its numbers.

Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster's Nolan Show, Boutcher said the £5 million does not address the funding needs of the PSNI.

"We've got to make sure that we provide the PSNI with the funds they need to have the numbers they require" and "none of (the figures announced in the budget) suggests that's happening".

"It's beyond disappointing," he said.

The budget was agreed on Thursday and announced increased investment in cutting waiting lists, special educational needs, skills for growing the economy, Lough Neagh and safer communities.

On Wednesday, a report by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) warned that financial pressures were "limiting" what the organisation can do in several areas, including neighbourhood patrolling.

It also stated the unit, which deals with online images of child abuse, has insufficient staff and "can't effectively manage its high workloads".

Reacting to the report, Boutcher said: "There are so many factors that form from the lack of funding and this is probably going to get worse before it gets better.

"If we don't get, quickly, the support that we need with the numbers that we need then that will have implications.

"Whether it's around offender management, the quality and speed of our investigations, our ability to deal with large-scale public disorder, or our ability to keep people safe on our roads. Lives are being lost."

Neighbourhood policing is about 400 officers short and "has borne the consequences" of budget pressure, the HMICFRS report stated.

Announcing the 2025/26 budget, Finance Minister John O'Dowd said: "The budget reflects our Programme for Government commitment to 'Doing What Matters Most' and shows this executive's determination to work together to deliver."

He added that it shows the executive is "prepared to do things differently and prioritise the limited funding we have available to make real change for the better in people's daily lives".

Boutcher told the Nolan Show that he found the programme for government "a huge disappointment".

"I was lobbying for policing to be priority – it's not," he said.

"The first duty of government is to keep citizens safe and the country secure, it's time – in the same way as people have received support to their police service in the UK and the republic of Ireland – that that principle was applied here.

"I'm incredibly frustrated because it seems whatever we say and do we aren't getting the support that we need to provide a basic police service for the people of Northern Ireland. Our communities should be angry."

The Department of Finance has been asked for comment.

The chief constable also announced the purchase of a new PSNI training facility at the Kinnegar Army barracks in Holywood, County Down.

The 54-acre site has been derelict since 2016.

"That gives us the opportunity, because it's a huge estate, to have the sort of police college that Patton envisaged which has never been done and should have been done.

"It will also allow us to have a crime academy and other support services that an organisation like the PSNI deserves to have," Boutcher told the programme.