Policing Board must be appointed in line with Patten

2.00.09pm GMT Fri 10th Feb 2006

Alliance Party Leader David Ford has called for a commitment from the Secretary of State to appoint the Policing Board with a majority of elected representatives, as required under Patten. His call comes after the resignation of Paul Berry from the DUP changed the mathematics of the appointments.

David Ford stated: "The resignation of Paul Berry from the DUP means that the breakdown of party representation on the Policing Board has changed.

"Sinn Féin's allocation would rise from two to three, but that party still refuses to take its seats. This only emphasizes the problem with the Secretary of State's plans to appoint three 'nominal Nationalists' in their place. It would mean the composition of the Policing Board would be changed so that only 7 of the 19 members would be elected representatives. This runs in clear opposition to the Patten report.

"The Patten report clearly states that a majority of the 19 members must be elected representatives. If any party refuses to take its seats on the Policing Board, then the allocation must proceed to the other parties. This is the only way to ensure consistency with Patton.

"If Sinn Féin wishes to deny its voters representation to drive forward changes in policing, the rest of us should not be punished."