Damning Report Slams North's Policing Board

The Northern Ireland Policing Board is to meet to discuss the findings of what is thought to be a damning independent report on its performance - with it even being suggested that is could be "obsolete".

The review found the police oversight body was slow to take decisions, bureaucratic and was not providing value for money.

Commenting on the publication, Sinn Fein Policing Spokesperson Alex Maskey MLA said: "Some time ago I said publicly that our party had major concerns about the leadership and management structures of the Policing Board.

"It is important to note that it was from the Board itself that this report was then commissioned," he said.

"I welcome the report as it points up a number of areas of concern which I highlighted some time ago.

"The Policing Board is an integral and key part of the accountability mechanisms of policing here and that is why Sinn Fein are committed to ensuring it is improved to a standard acceptable to the community.

"We will be meeting with both, the author of the report, Ken Reed and the PSNI's senior management team in the coming weeks which will give us a formal opportunity to address the issues raised," he concluded.

The continuous improvement report on the board, which costs £8.8m to run annually, said the way it is functioning is "causing frustration among senior police officers".

The independent consultant who penned the assessment, Ken Reed, is to outline his full findings to members during a private meeting at board headquarters this week and it is expected the matter will also be raised at the monthly public meeting beforehand.

It has been reported that Mr Reed found the board's "decision-making processes are slow, bureaucratic and not outcome-focused, which is resulting in frustration among members and senior officers of the PSNI".

Now, despite the fact that Board members commissioned the external performance audit themselves, Mr Reed's study was particularly critical of one of the board's primary functions - how it engages with the public.

With additional oversight of the PSNI now provided by Stormont's Justice Committee since the devolution of law and order powers from London earlier this year, the consultant even suggested the board could effectively become obsolete.

(BMcC/KMcA)