To ask the Minister of Justice (i) for her assessment of staff shortages in (a) the PSNI; (b) the Northern Ireland Prison Service; and (c) the justice system in general; and (ii) to detail the steps being taken to address any shortages.

Recruitment and retention of police officers and civilian staff within the PSNI is an operational matter for the Chief Constable, who is accountable to the Northern Ireland Policing Board. You may, therefore, wish to direct your question to the PSNI.

The Northern Ireland Prison Service currently has a number of vacancies across operational grades. Staffing levels are kept under constant review with colleagues in NICS HR which provides strategic HR advice and support to all NICS Departments. The most recent recruitment competition concluded on 31 December 2021 which will ensure there is a supply of prison officers to fill vacancies as required.

Within the core Department, the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Services, Forensic Science Northern Ireland, Youth Justice Agency and Legal Services Agency Northern Ireland, there are currently significant levels of vacancies. There are a significant number of recruitment competitions to fill staff vacancies currently in train as a result. Ongoing management action is minimising impacts on service delivery currently but this is kept under close review.

The ability to recruit to fill current and future vacancies will be affected by the outcome of the budget. The draft budget would require significant reductions in workforce across the justice system and would impact on the services that can be delivered.