The PSNI has confirmed more than a third of its front counter enquiry offices will close next week due to budget pressures on the service.
Eleven of the 28 enquiry offices will be shut from next Thursday 1 August, a decision which a senior PSNI officer says came about due to the service being ‘neither sustainable nor effective’.
The closures do not impact on police stations, but ‘front counters’ which are staffed by third-party contractors to deal with in-person enquiries.
Assistant Chief Constable for Local Policing, Bobby Singleton said: “This decision follows an extensive review which included analysis of the volume and type of demand in enquiry offices.
“This review concluded that against the backdrop of wider resource challenges, the current service is neither sustainable nor effective.
“This is not a decision we have taken lightly, however, the PSNI is facing unprecedented financial pressure and savings are necessary to deliver a sustainable and effective organisation.”
Plans to cut the number of front counters to 17 from 28 were first revealed earlier in April this year, while confirmation of the closures come as the PSNI received just £23m of the £300m it had requested from the Department of Finance in the June monitoring round.
Four of the enquiry offices to close will be in Belfast, with the seven others spread out across the north:
- Lisburn Road, Belfast
- Strandtown, Belfast
- Tennent Street, Belfast
- Woodbourne, Belfast
- Bangor
- Banbridge
- Magherafelt
- Dungannon
- Lisnaskea
- Waterside
- Newtownabbey
