Government support for the Police Service of Northern Ireland training college
A Westminster Hall debate has been scheduled for 2:30pm on 9 June 2026 on government support for the Police Service of Northern Ireland training college. The debate will be opened by Alex Easton MP.
Justice and policing is a devolved policy area in Northern Ireland.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) is responsible for the prevention and investigation of crime in Northern Ireland. The PSNI is operationally independent from the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly, as well as the UK Government and Parliament. It is led by a chief constable.
The Northern Ireland Department of Justice is the government department responsible for the PSNI. The day-to-day oversight of the PSNI is carried out by the Northern Ireland Policing Board, which is made up of Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly and independent members.
FundingThe Northern Ireland Executive is funded predominantly through a block grant from the UK Government. Through the Executive’s budgetary process, funding is allocated to the Northern Ireland Department of Justice, which in turn provides the PSNI with the majority of its funding. A contribution is provided ringfenced from the UK Government as Additional Security Funding, in recognition of the “unique security situation in Northern Ireland”.
The Northern Ireland Executive published a multi-year draft budget in January 2026, but this has not been agreed by the Executive, meaning that the PSNI budget is uncertain.
On 27 May 2026, the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee published a report from its inquiry into Policing and security in Northern Ireland. The report highlighted funding pressures faced by the PSNI in recent years, including from costs associated with legacy cases, and concluded that the “real-terms erosion of the PSNI’s budget for nearly a decade has put the service and officer numbers under immense strain”.
WorkforceLast year, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services commented that the PSNI had its lowest number of officers since the service was formed (6,300 officers in April 2025).
The PSNI’s Workforce Recovery Plan aims to increase officer numbers to 7,000 by 2028. As of 1 June 2026, the PSNI had 6,341 police officers (and 2,309 staff). The Police Federation of Northern Ireland, the staff association for officers, has questioned whether the workforce recovery target will be achieved.
The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee report Policing and security in Northern Ireland provides more information on PSNI workforce challenges.
The Police CollegeThe PSNI’s Police College is responsible for delivering training and development for new and existing police officers and police staff.
In November 2024, the PSNI bought Kinnegar Logistics Base, a former army base in Holywood, County Down to build a new police college. The 54-acre site reportedly cost £4.9 million and had previously stood derelict since 2016.
In April 2025, the Chief Constable of the PSNI, Jon Boutcher, described the development as a “significant milestone” and a “key enabler” for “developing our current and future workforce” (PDF):
We are pleased to have received approval from the Departments of Justice and Finance on the Outline Business Case for site acquisition of a new police college. This marks a significant milestone for the Service in setting a future vision to deliver on the long standing ambition to provide a new purpose built police college, meeting a specific recommendation of the Patten Review.
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This acquisition is just the start of the journey, we will now move to develop a further business case for the building of the future college. In line with the commitment to make best use of our resources, we will ensure to optimise opportunities to rationalise our estate and dispose of surplus assets.
However, there is concern that PSNI does not have the capital funding to develop the site. The PSNI’s Annual Reports and Accounts for the year ending 31 March 2024 (PDF) stated that “the PSNI will require a significant increase to its capital funding if it is to deliver in full against its strategies and deliver a new Police College”. The Department of Justice’s finance director has told MLAs that the department does not have the funding to start the Kinnegar project.
In November 2024, Peter Martin MLA, asked Minister for Justice Naomi Long whether the PSNI will be provided with the funding to develop Kinnegar. In response, Naomi Long said:
The management of the PSNI estate, including acquisitions, is entirely an operational matter for the Chief Constable, who is accountable to the Northern Ireland Policing Board (NIPB). I will, however, continue to work with the Chief Constable, my Executive colleagues and the Department of Finance to ensure that we have a police service that is properly resourced in all aspects for the challenges that it faces.
In November 2024, Alex Easton MP asked Hilary Benn, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, to commit to “speak to the First Minister, the Deputy First Minister and the Justice Minister to ensure that that police college is built at Kinnegar”. In response, Mr Benn said it was an issue for the Executive. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Matthew Patrick, gave a similar response in March 2026.