Northern Ireland’s police chief has said he is prepared to go to court to secure a pay rise for his officers as he warned that the PSNI’s finances are the worst they have ever been.
Jon Boutcher said he was “calling time” on the continuing “dilution” of policing capabilities in Northern Ireland as he confirmed an intent to recruit 350 new officers in the coming financial year, 100 of them between April and July.
The chief constable has been lobbying Stormont officials and the UK Government to secure the estimated £20 million required for the Pay Review Board-recommended 7% rise for the existing workforce.
Last year Mr Boutcher raised the prospect of him introducing a pay rise for his officers without securing the money to fund it.
At the time, he acknowledged that such a step could prompt a formal sanction for breaching his responsibilities as an accounting officer for the PSNI’s budget.
On Thursday he told members of his oversight body – the Northern Ireland Policing Board – that he was exploring options around mounting a legal challenge to secure the funding required.
He expressed hope that course of action would not be needed and that a restored Stormont executive would move to divert more funds to the PSNI.
On the issue of the stalled pay rise, he told board members: “I’m exploring the legal opportunities that might be available to me. I’m very conscious that courts have always been nervous about making judgments with regards to allocations of spend with regards to public services.
“But I have statutory duties within the organisation to keep people safe, to safeguard vulnerable groups, as well as an accounting officer function.
“And that prospect is one that I have not put to one side with regards to making sure that these issues are effectively discussed in a format where proper and more informed decisions could be made around funding for the PSNI.”
Mr Boutcher added: “At the moment there has been a dilution, a reduction in our police capabilities over time, we haven’t kept pace.
“And that’s something to do I think with how we have, or have not, managed to get the allocation of budget that we need. So, I’m calling time on that.
“We’ve got to get the funding that this organisation needs. I would just say once more because it’s important I think for the organisation to know my position on this – I am determined to pay them that pay award. I’m determined. I will go to court over it. I might lose. I might lose, but they deserve that money.
“I’m hoping now recent events mean I won’t have to do that, because that’s not in the interest of anybody or public money. But something has to give here.”
Commenting on the PSNI’s current budget shortfall, he added: “It is the worst financial position this organisation’s ever been in.”
While the PSNI has a recommended officer headcount of 7,500, the actual number of serving officers is currently below 6,500.
Mr Boutcher said the organisation actually needed around 8,000 officers to perform all the duties expected of it.
“Many officers are saying that they simply can’t afford to be part of the PSNI, officers and staff,” he said.
“We have around about 600 people leaving the organisation each year, around about 350 of those are police officers.
“The recruitment that we’re going to do is seeking to retain the headcount that we’re currently at.
“So the recruitment will effectively keep us the headcount we’ve got, but we need to increase that headcount.”
