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Policing Board 'cannot exercise any of its functions'

Former Policing Board member Dolores Kelly said the oversight body is now "defunct"
Former Policing Board member Dolores Kelly said the oversight body is now "defunct" Former Policing Board member Dolores Kelly said the oversight body is now "defunct"

A senior Stormont official has said the Policing Board “cannot exercise any of its functions” in the absence of political members.

The Policing Board is responsible for monitoring the performance of the PSNI.

It also makes senior staff appointments and has oversight of efforts to comply with the Human Rights Act.

However, political representatives have not sat on the board since the fall of the Stormont executive in January.

In February, senior board figures including its chair Anne Connolly were given delegated authority to take decisions across a range of areas.

These included ensuring police can continue to draw down funding and approving high-value compensation requests and PSNI secondments.

But it has now emerged that the permanent secretary at the Department of Justice (DoJ), Nick Perry, has said it cannot carry out any duties.

In a letter to former Policing Board member Dolores Kelly last month, he said: “In the absence of its political members, we have legal advice to the effect that the board cannot exercise any of its functions."

He also revealed that officials recommended the Policing Board chief executive Amanda Stewart obtain her own legal advice.

A spokeswoman for the board said “the legal advice confirms the position that the board is not constituted as required by the Police (NI) Act 2000”, but refused to provide a copy.

Ms Kelly said policing reform was a "key component around the negotiations of the Good Friday Agreement” but the board is now “in effect defunct”.

“I think people need to wake up and realise the oversight and accountability of the police is another casualty of political failure and the political parties and public need to be alert."

The SDLP representative said she is currently awaiting a report from the board on how it is “managing to perform some functions of delegated authority and not others”.

A spokesman for the board said: "The previous board delegated authority to the chair, vice-chair and chief executive to take forward a number of areas of work.

“This delegated authority will continue until a new board is in place.”

A spokesman for the DoJ said: “In terms of the authority of the Policing Board – it cannot exercise its functions as set out in the ‘Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000’ until it is fully reconstituted - which cannot take place until a Minister of Justice is appointed.”