POLICE MANPOWER numbers in Northern Ireland should be reviewed, the favourite for the justice ministry told the Northern Assembly yesterday.
Keeping a police station open in every village is not a good use of public money, David Ford told the Assembly.
The Alliance leader is expected to become justice minister once powers are devolved from London to Belfast on April 12th.
“I think it is entirely necessary that MLAs and other public representatives need to face the fact that keeping a police station open in every village is not a good use of public resources in the kind of pressures we are under and there are real issues about what actually contributes to making a safer society rather than managing the previous and ongoing patterns,” he said.
A cross-party vote in the Assembly approved the decision to take policing powers, with the only objection from the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP).
Mr Ford added: “There is clearly a major issue concerning the very large section of the budget for justice immediately swallowed up by the police service, as others have highlighted, by commitments on salaries and pensions which allow no opportunity for free money and in particular by the fact that the police service, despite what perhaps would be wished by the chief constable [Matt Baggott] and others, is bound to a particular number of officers which may or may not be the necessary number as we move into the future.” The South Antrim MLA also highlighted the danger that legal aid bills could rise further.
Finance Minister Sammy Wilson yesterday introduced a resolution on funding policing and justice functions during the next financial year. The Northern Ireland Office has already allocated £1.2 billion to policing during the coming year.
There is a £20 million increase for legal aid following negotiations with Gordon Brown.
MPs are expected to approve the parliamentary orders necessary to transfer policing and justice powers to the Stormont Assembly on April 12th. – (PA)