Hain statement on policing board expected
Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain is expected to announce plans for a shake-up of the Policing Board in a House of Commons statement tomorrow.
It is anticipated that if Sinn Féin refuses again to take the two seats on the board that it is entitled to, those could remain in nationalist hands, going to the SDLP.
Stormont sources tonight however stressed that the British government was not necessarily bound by the system for allocating policing board seats under devolution when there was no Assembly.
“There is an assumption that if the [British] government reconstitutes the board it would mean that if Sinn Féin does not take its policing board seats, the DUP will have five members, the Ulster Unionists would have three and the SDLP two,” a source said.
“This is not necessarily so if the Assembly is not in place.
“There are suggestions that the Secretary of State could chose to keep the Sinn Féin seats in nationalist hands which would mean the DUP would have four board members, the Ulster Unionists would have two and the SDLP could have possibly four.”
Mr Hain will also appoint independent members of the board as part of the plan, which is due to be implemented next April.
Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionists have been pressing for the reconstitution of the board which holds Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) to account, claiming it no longer reflects the political climate as set in the 2003 Stormont Assembly Elections.
The DUP has been pressing for some of those independent nominees to reflect their political ideology in the same way as independent members of the current board have had links with parties like the SDLP.
Sinn Féin, which has refused to endorse policing reforms in Northern Ireland, has also declined seats on the accountability structures such as the policing board and local policing partnerships.
The party has lobbied the British government for legislation guaranteeing the transfer of policing and justice powers from Westminster to Stormont once devolution returns.
The policing board, chaired by Sir Desmond Rea and its vice-chairman is Denis Bradley, has taken key decisions such as the appointment of Sir Hugh Orde as Chief Constable and agreeing the emblem for the PSNI.
It also played a vital role in the row over the Omagh bomb investigation between Royal Ulster Constabulary Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan and Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan.
Every month Chief Constable Hugh Orde and his senior officers face board members’ questions on policing targets and actions.
Last week Orde and his team were asked about their approach to policing parades, their views on plans for community restorative justice and discussed crime figures.
