Hearing Loss Dosh
A lot of attention has been paid today to the £1.1 million cost of policing this summer's Ardoyne riots. But this sum seems paltry by comparison to some of the figures under discussion in the Stormont Justice Committee, particularly the amounts now being budgeted for historic claims from former police officers for hearing loss. The projected cost has risen sharply from around £14 million to nearer £30 million.
The Justice Chair, Lord Morrow, wondered whether we should be braced for a further doubling of what he called the "startling" pay outs to £60 million. But the Justice official Anthony Harbinson told him not to worry as it was in the best interests of the local department "if the figure continues to rise as quickly and as high as it possibly can". It wouldn't be a problem, he continued, if the cost rose to £60 million or even £90 million, as the UK reserve was committed to picking up the bill under the Hillsborough agreement.
Lord Morrow cautioned that, after the Spending Review on October 20th, "this may not be a bottomless pit". But the Justice officials appeared confident that the Treasury understood the scale of the hearing loss problem and would honour their previous undertakings.
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