5. Mr Brooks asked the Minister of Justice for an update on the status and progression of the PSNI’s workforce recovery business case. (AQO 2217/22-27)

While the Minister of Finance and I have approved the PSNI workforce recovery business case, affordability remains a key concern, given the current pressures on public finances. I have heard the comments made by the First Minister, and I would like to see this funding prioritised. I then had a constructive meeting with the Finance Minister about the business case this morning, and it will, ultimately, be for him to bring it to the Executive for approval. This funding could be a game changer in ensuring that we can grow officer numbers and put the PSNI on a sustainable footing. Every party in the Assembly has acknowledged that the PSNI is not adequately staffed, so now is the time to support funding for that business case.

I thank the Minister for her answer. Our party, of course, supports that work and was among the first to push for it. Given her meeting with the Finance Minister, can she provide any insight into which Departments may be asked to provide resource for it?

I will provide some clarity. As things stand, the PSNI has set aside a provisional £7 million this year for recruitment in the first year, which is the first year of the business plan. However, because that has not yet been funded by the Executive, that adds to its pressures, which are around £21 million, with £7 million of that for the business case for recruitment. Even if the PSNI were to get the £7 million, we would have to find a way of bridging the remaining gap of £14 million for it to be affordable. The Chief Constable has agreed to do a piece of work on that.

Next year, it will cost about £26 million, so the hope is that, when we come to set a three-year Budget, we will look at the three years from the point where that Budget will kick in and make an allocation for each of those three years. That would then allow us to ensure that the PSNI rises to 7,000 officers and roughly 2,500 staff and is maintained at that level post reaching it after three years. We are still working through that, so allocations in this year would definitely be welcome in starting the process, but we need that longer-term horizon to make it work.

Minister, can you outline the steps that you have taken to prioritise resourcing of the PSNI in the current budgetary environment?

I have taken every opportunity to do that: first, in the opening Budget allocations and as we have gone through the year to date; in fairness, we are only about 10 weeks into the year. Some 65% of the funding that came into the Department of Justice went to PSNI, and 35% provides for the entire remainder of the system. That gives you some idea of the proportional split. We have to run everything else, including courts, probation and prisons, on the remaining 35% of the budget.

We also know that there are other challenges. We got an additional £5 million towards making our communities safer, which was one of the priorities in the Executive programme, and the PSNI will receive £4·75 million of that, which is 95% of it. In addition to the baseline allocation, we had Executive allocations of £132·3 million, and PSNI received just over £86 million of that. From my perspective, there has been a prioritisation of the PSNI. It also got £3·3 million towards the increased costs of employer National Insurance contributions. I also submitted a bid, in light of the recent riots, for £5 million to help the police with the additional costs of mutual aid. However, it is sad that that £5 million has gone, essentially, in supporting the policing of riots when it could have gone directly into increasing the number of officers available to do general policing.

I have a quick question. I hope that we will hear that the requirements of the business plan will be met this year, given that some of the words from the First Minister indicated that they would. When that workforce plan is published, will it address what now appears to be a crisis in Catholic recruitment to the PSNI? Numbers are at an all-time low. I do not necessarily want to get into all of the old categories, but we need to rescue Catholic levels of recruitment. Does the Minister agree?

Minister, you have 60 seconds.

It is important that our Police Service be representative, and I look forward to working with the Member to ensure that it is, going forward.

Minister, that ends the period for listed questions. We now move on to 15 minutes of topical questions.