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Written question asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass (Crossbench), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton (Labour) on Thursday, 21 July 2005.


Police Service of Northern Ireland

Question
Further to the Written Answers by the Lord Rooker on 30 June (WA 50) and 6 July (WA 106), how they justify an allocation of per capita funding for the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland to ””police”” the Police Service of Northern Ireland which is 82 per cent. greater than that allocated to the Police Service of Northern Ireland to ””police”” the general public.
Answer

In the answer by my honourable friend, the Minister of State for Northern Ireland (Lord Rooker) on 6 July , OfficialReport col. WA106, my noble friend stated, ””The Police Ombudsman’s annual budget is set at a level to allow the Police Ombudsman to fulfil her legal obligations under Part VII of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 1998 and is not based on numbers of serving officers within the Police Service for Northern Ireland.”” That is still the case.In his 1997 report, A Police Ombudsman. for Northern Ireland, Dr Maurice Hayes placed the combined cost of operating the RUC Complaints and Discipline Department and the Independent Commission for Police Complaints at about £6,850,000. This did not include costs for additional staff, such as CID and other officers used in conducting criminal investigations arising from complaints, nor the cost of ancillary police services, including; legal advice, use of police officers for court duty, conveying sensitive material, and statistical and research work. Given the range and scope of work of the ombudsman’s office and the eight years since the report was completed, the current figure of £7,100,000 is fully justified.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
1301; 673 c317WA
Session
2005-06
Related items
Police Service of Northern Ireland: Costs
Thursday, 30 June 2005
Written questions
House of Lords
Northern Ireland: Police Ombudsman
Wednesday, 6 July 2005
Written questions
House of Lords
Subjects
Finance Police Service of Northern Ireland Per capita costs Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk