Cost of Troubles cases ‘will financially cripple policing in NI’

By Jonathan McCambridge, Press Association

The cost of dealing with Troubles cases will “financially cripple” frontline policing in Northern Ireland, a former chief constable has warned.

Hugh Orde told MPs on the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee that the costs of policing the past were “uncontrollable”.

Another former Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) chief constable, George Hamilton, said the force is suffering from “dramatic under-funding” and said the Government needs to separate funding for legacy from operational policing.

Current Chief Constable Jon Boutcher has repeatedly warned about funding pressures facing the force. He recently said the force could be facing a potential bill of £1 billion over the next decade due to civil litigation around legacy cases.

The UK Government is in the process of passing legislation at Westminster to replace the previous Legacy Act, which was widely criticised in Northern Ireland.

The new bill proposes including creating a reformed legacy commission with enhanced powers.

However, police in Northern Ireland have warned about the cost of preparing cases for the new body, as well as the cost of compensation in civil litigation cases.

Hugh Orde told the committee: “The costs now seem to be uncontrollable.

“In the report from the current chief….he talked about a small number of cases being settled at the cost of £26 million, of which £17 million went to lawyers.

“Well, that begs a question in its own right.

“These are civil cases, and it seems to be that the numbers are growing.

“This will financially cripple operational frontline policing in Northern Ireland, not only with the cost (which) means you can’t recruit the right numbers but the number of staff being  required to service these huge behemoths as they go on will soak resources in terms of human resources away as well.

“So, it’s unsustainable frankly.”

Hugh Orde drew attention to the 2009 Eames Bradley report, which made a number of recommendations in dealing with the legacy of the Northern Ireland Troubles, but which were never implemented following a row over payments to families of all who had someone killed.

He said the report was based on the principle that the judicial process would not work for families of Troubles victims.

Hugh said: “There are very, very few, an infinitesimally small number of convictions. Looking forward, I suspect there’ll be no more convictions.

“So, the justice process will not deliver what these families want.

“There needs to be a different approach, which is exactly what Eames Bradley was trying to do, is trying to come up with different ways of solving the very tricky and difficult issues of the past.”

George Hamilton said the PSNI had suffered from “dramatic under-funding” compared to police forces in England and Wales.

He said: “I think it’s pretty dire position that they are in financially, and that’s playing out in record low level numbers of neighbourhood policing officers.

“And that problem is exacerbated further by the changing dynamic, the more complex nature of policing, taking a lot of police activity into a private space rather than very public facing.”

George Hamilton said the force would feel the pain of budget pressures most in the area of neighbourhood policing.

He said: “The Government needs to decide how it’s going to deal with legacy.

“Clearly, there are things moving through the legislative process at the moment, hopefully that will bring some success.

“But as well as making political policy choices around how legacy is going to be dealt with, the funding needs to be completely separated out from policing, because it’s just a constant suck on money.”