The Patten Commission recommendation that Northern Ireland should have a more streamlined, demilitarised and democratically accountable police force was largely endorsed by the Northern Ireland Secretary, Mr Peter Mandelson, in the Commons yesterday.
The redress of the religious imbalance was fully endorsed. Mr Mandelson accepted the Patten recommendations that there should be a programme to reduce numbers in the force, and to introduce recruitment on a 50/50 Catholic-to-Protestant ratio.
The current situation, where a force which is nearly 90 per cent Protestant serves a community with a 60/40 religious mix, was "not a desirable state of affairs", Mr Mandelson said.
The British government concurs with the Patten recommendation that the strength of the RUC should be reduced from its current level of almost 13,000. The existing strength comprises a regular force of around 8,500, plus 2,900 full-time reservists and 1,300 part-time reservists.
The proposed reduced strength of 7,500 regular members would still leave Northern Ireland with a police-to-population ratio greater than the Republic or Britain.
The newly titled Police Service of Northern Ireland will have about one officer per 221 members of the population. In the Republic, with a Garda Siochana strength of 11,235, there is a one-to-330 ratio. In England and Wales the proportion of police to population is one-to-446.
Aside from paramilitary violence, Northern Ireland has low crime levels, with most of its recorded 60,000 crimes being of a petty nature. It is possible that the numbers in the new police service might decline further if there is a permanent end to terrorist violence.
If the ratios in Britain and the Republic were to be implemented in the North, the new police strength could fall to as low as 4,000 - the strength of the RUC at the outbreak of the Troubles in 1969.
It is anticipated that there will be a significant and swift outflow of members from the regular RUC as long-serving members opt for generous early retirement packages and retraining programmes, offered as part of the severance deals.
The force will quickly lose its 1,300 part-time reservists, who will also benefit from severance packages and index-linked pensions, like their regular counterparts. Full-time reservists with long service are also likely to be attracted to the early retirement payments.
The process of early retirement and assimilation of ex-officers into civilian life is being overseen by the publicly funded Police Retraining and Rehabilitation Trust, which was set up about a year ago.
The Patten Commission re commended the devolution of authority to district commanders and "slimmer" headquarters management structure. This is supported by Mr Mandelson. The commission also recommended an "Oversight Commissioner", or ombudsman, and this, too, has been accepted.
Mr Mandelson has accepted one of the most contentious elements of the Patten report, concerning the establishment of district police boards which will provide a local, democratic input into the management of police services. It caused considerable unionist anger when it emerged that this could entail members of Sinn Fein sitting on local police management boards.
The Northern Secretary, however, has placed on the long finger the proposal that the District Policing Partnership Boards should have the power to buy in local services.
Anti-Patten elements argued that this could lead to local police buying services, such as civilian security guards, from companies run by former paramilitaries.
Mr Mandelson has left this issue for further consideration by a committee considering the criminal justice system in the North.
Mr Mandelson concurred with Patten that there should be no actual disbandment, and that serving members would not have to re-take any oath. He emphasised that no "ex-terrorists" would join the new service.
However, senior security figures have long pointed out that there is no point having a police force that is not accepted by its local community: in Northern Ireland that inevitably means having a working relationship with "ex-terrorists" and their many supporters.
The exclusion of the RUC from anything other than purely professional contact with nationalist areas and much of the working class loyalist community has served to perpetuate support for illegal paramilitary organisations, it has been pointed out.
Local police management boards should draw the police and the community closer together and make the police more effective.
Despite unionist and police representative objections, the British government has decided that this is an issue which is central to the ability of the new police force to be accepted.
Another key point in changing the nature of the force is the introduction of new and better training.
RUC training has been short - around 25 weeks - and somewhat paramilitary in nature, with considerable emphasis on drilling and handling equipment. By contrast, the Garda Siochana has a two-year study and induction period for new recruits.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland will have a new police college and senior RUC officers have already visited the Garda College in Co Tipperary as part of their preparations for the new training system.
In adhering to the thrust and detail of Mr Patten's report, the British government is proposing a police structure based on modern police service models and taking into consideration the sensitivities of serving a divided community.