Troubles legal costs almost double amount paid to victims, Chief Constable saysJon Boutcher answered questions at the monthly meeting of the NI Policing Board.PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher during a meeting of the Policing Board at the Gasworks in Belfast (Liam McBurney/PA)PA WireJonathan McCambridge2 minutes ago
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has paid out almost twice as much in the past five years in legal costs in civil claims relating to Troubles incidents as it has in compensation to victims’ families, Chief Constable Jon Boutcher has said.
Mr Boutcher called on the Stormont Executive and the Westminster government to “come together to find a funding mechanism to deal with these spiralling legacy costs”.
The Chief Constable told the Policing Board that he believed the financial cost of dealing with the Troubles “morally and legally” should sit with Westminster.
In his remarks to his oversight board, Mr Boutcher said it was “unacceptable” that Northern Ireland did not have a budget set by Stormont six months into the financial year.
He said the projected gap between PSNI spending and the indicative budget is £70 million.
He said: “It is impossible to discuss financial pressures without mentioning legacy.
“We continue to see legacy place an unsustainable and growing burden upon contemporary policing.
“The annual cost of legacy to policing is £24 million.”
The Chief Constable added: “These matters arose during direct rule from Westminster, and those liabilities and costs should not fall upon the already insufficient budget intended for policing the communities of Northern Ireland today.
“I call upon the Executive and Westminster government to come together to find a funding mechanism to deal with these spiralling legacy costs.
“The current position is not tenable.”
Frank McManus during a meeting of the Policing Board at the Gasworks in Belfast (Liam McBurney/PA)PA Wire
Board member Frank McManus asked how much had been paid out by the force to victims and in legal fees in civil cases.
Mr McManus said: “What I’m trying to get here is because I’ve seen quite a lot of cases of where the compensation has been very low, but the legal fees have been obscene.
“Let’s just call them what they are. They’re obscene.”
Mr Boutcher said from July 2021 to July 2026, the PSNI paid out £7.7 million in legacy compensation settlements to families, and £14.6 million on related legal costs.
He said: “Because we’re not funded for legacy, we don’t have an efficient model to deal with legacy.
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“With a lot of these cases, particularly civil cases, because we don’t have the resource, we don’t have the ability to recover information.
“Technically, it has to be done by people because we don’t have the software.
“These cases go on for an inordinate amount of time.”
Mr Boutcher said there needed to be a system where claims are assessed earlier to “stop these unnecessary and extensive legal costs”.
He said the force was taking a “more forward-leaning approach with families” who have civil cases against the PSNI to try to reach an early settlement.
The Chief Constable added: “These cases from the 1970s, the 1980s, the 1990s…we’re 25 years old in November.
“This organisation, the Executive here, was not in place.
“Those costs, morally and I think legally, should sit with Westminster government, and I will continue to lobby.”
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