PSNI chief warns of £1bn bill over next decade to deal with legacy cases

Police in Northern Ireland are facing a potential bill of £1 billion to deal with legacy cases in the next decade, PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher has warned.

He told MPs that when the Patten Commission recommended the formation of the PSNI in 2001, there was no expectation it would still be dealing with Troubles cases a quarter of a century later.

The Labour Government’s Northern Ireland Troubles Bill is currently at the committee stage in Westminster.

It will reform the structures established by the last Conservative government’s contentious Legacy Act, including creating a reformed legacy commission with enhanced powers.

During an appearance before the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, Mr Boutcher said he believes Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn is “incredibly well-intentioned” with regards to legacy.

However, he said he is worried about Schedule 4 of the Bill, which deals with how the PSNI is required to provide information to the legacy body.

He said the legal obligation on the force to categorise sensitive information and provide a determination on it could have a “collateral impact” in the confidence of families of victims in police.

He said: “I don’t think we should do that. I don’t see any grounds for it.

“I don’t see any grounds for it from national security perspective, and certainly with regards to trust and competence for communities, some of whom do not trust the PSNI.

“It will add to their concern around this process going forward.”

Mr Boutcher also raised concerns about the cost to the PSNI of preparing cases for the new legacy body.

He said: “When the Patten Commission occurred, which created the PSNI almost 25 years ago, the structures, the accountability, the make-up of the organisation, with regards to recruitment, the oversight with regards the Policing Board, all put in place.

“Nothing was put in place around legacy.

“I don’t think Lord Patten would have had any expectation that 25 years later, we’d be having these conversations.

“It was probably too difficult to deal with at the time.”

The chief constable said the force is already short on resources, and having to do additional legacy work is a “double whammy”.

He added: “It’s costing us £24 million a year to just manage at the moment and this will increase the volume of our work significantly, and we have no money in the Executive to provide the PSNI to do that.

“So there will be delays, there will be mistakes, and it will reinforce the narrative that the police are not to be trusted, when actually we’re doing our best.”

Mr Boutcher also discussed legacy cases the PSNI is investigating which do not fall under the remit of the legacy commission.

He said: “I’ve talked about 197 cases, 71 of those were during the Troubles period, but they’re not Troubles-related that we’re reviewing, investigating.

“The others are 1998-2004, that is a significant commitment that we’re not funded for.

“We think that’s £60 million, but because of civil litigation, because of compensation, we think that that could go towards £1 billion over the next 10 years.

“It’s £1 billion we haven’t got.

“So unless we come up with some framework to deal with that, the PSNI will still have this anchor holding us back from moving forward.

“Let’s focus on the legacy commission and what we can do to get the structures right.”