New clause 9 - Amalgamation of police districts
Police (Northern Ireland) Bill [Lords]
4:45 pm
Mr David Trimble (Upper Bann, UUP)
Several months ago, well in advance of suspension, we launched a review of public administration in Northern Ireland, part of which involved a review of local government with a view to considering—I choose my words carefully—the possibility of a reorganisation of local government. Precisely the sort of changes to which the hon. Gentleman refers might result from that review. He may like to bear in mind that it would have the rather curious consequence that if we decided to make some changes to local government structures we would as a side effect reorganise the police's internal structures. Those changes may be for reasons completely unconnected with operational policing decisions, yet the police's operational structures will change as a consequence whether they will it or not. That might not necessarily be in the interests of efficiency and effectiveness.