Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they are having with the Police Service of Northern Ireland about providing financial support to increase officer numbers.

Policing is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland and the Police Service of Northern Ireland's main budget is allocated by the Department of Justice from the Northern Ireland block grant. It is for the devolved administration to determine the allocation of funding to the Police Service of Northern Ireland from the Block Grant.

The recent Budget that the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland set for Northern Ireland, in the absence of a functioning Executive, provides the Northern Ireland Department of Justice with a total allocation of £1.2 billion.

In addition to the block grant, the UK Government provides the Police Service of Northern Ireland with additional security funding to tackle the SEVERE threat from Northern Ireland-related terrorism. In the financial year 2022/3, this was £32 million and is confirmed through to 2024/5.