Rosie Cooper
Main Page: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)Department Debates - View all Rosie Cooper's debates with the Northern Ireland Office
(9 years, 10 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mrs Villiers
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has a range of measures in place on those matters, including the Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill which is under discussion in Parliament, which in certain circumstances would enable UK nationals not to be admitted back into the country. The hon. Lady is right to raise the threat from international terrorism, which we must remember is a threat in Northern Ireland as it is elsewhere in the United Kingdom. I had the opportunity to discuss these matters with senior members of the PSNI last week. They stand ready not only to play their part in Northern Ireland, but to provide assistance and advice to police services in the rest of the country.
Rosie Cooper (West Lancashire) (Lab)
2. What recent steps she has taken to ensure that the Police Service of Northern Ireland has adequate resources to guarantee security for the people of Northern Ireland.
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mrs Theresa Villiers)
The Stormont House agreement included an undertaking by the Northern Ireland Executive to protect the PSNI’s budget from significant reductions. I very much welcome the additional £20 million for the police in the Executive’s final budget for 2015-16. This is in addition to security funding of £231 million provided by this Government to help the PSNI tackle the terrorist threat.
Rosie Cooper
The letter bomb sent to the PSNI headquarters earlier this month is a shocking reminder of the great sacrifices made by officers across Northern Ireland. How closely is the Secretary of State monitoring the resource needs of the PSNI?
Mrs Villiers
This is of course something I take a very close interest in. That is one of the reasons why the Government have provided the extra security funding and why we included provision in the Stormont House agreement to link our funding package with a commitment by the Executive on police resources. Clearly, the threats to police officers continue to be real and significant, and I welcome the success that the PSNI and An Garda Siochana have had in significant arrests and disruptions, which I believe have contributed substantially to suppressing the terrorist threat.