The Police Ombudsman's Office has said it will now double the staff working in its Historical Directorate following the announcement that it is to receive an additional £10 million pounds over the next six years to complete its investigations of matters arising from 'The Troubles.'
The Historical Directorate, which has more than 100 cases referred to it, plans to double its staff, bringing its complement to almost 40.
Those 100 plus cases comprise complaints from the public and referrals from the PSNI Chief Constable in relation to deaths and other serious matters believed to have involved members of the RUC between the period 1969 to 1998.
The extra funding comes at a time when the Office is preparing for the announcement of a new Police Ombudsman and is addressing issues raised by the Criminal Justice Inspectorate last year.
Its Interim Chief Executive, Colin Lewis, has said that while the Office is making steady progress on improving those processes that were subject to adverse comment by the Inspectorate, it was clear resourcing was also an issue:
"It was obvious to me that the Office simply did not have the resources to complete its 'historical' investigations in a timely manner. The Department of Justice, accepting this, has approved the release of additional money, which is excellent news, particularly for many families who have been waiting patiently to have issues related to the deaths of their loved ones investigated. This decision brings some much needed clarity to the task ahead," he said.
Mr Lewis has said the work to implement the recommendations for improvement made by the Criminal Justice Inspectorate is progressing well:
"The Inspectorate recently wrote to me to confirm that our proposed strategy to deal with historical cases is sensible and well thought through and that it endorses our plans to begin the resourcing of the enlarged History Directorate.
"We are also making progress in improving our processes for quality assuring and critically reviewing our 'historical' investigations and while we still have some work to do, we hope the changes we make will provide added assurance that these investigations are independent and impartial," he said.
Following a recommendation from the Inspectorate, the Office has also completed a programme of consultation across the community on its policy for deciding the order in which to initiate its 'historical' investigations. It is anticipated that new cases will not begin until after the next Police Ombudsman takes up post.
The Director of Historical Investigations, Paul Holmes, has said that the extra resources will allow the Office to complete the restructuring of the unit:
"Up to this point funding allocated to the History Directorate had meant we could not do this work to the timescale we wanted and at a pace many families needed. We will soon be in a position to give families realistic time scales of when we can begin this work," he said.
The new structure of the Directorate will comprise three units: one which will deal with individual matters, one which will concentrate on complex cases and one which will focus on supporting people connected to the cases.
"The issues we investigate often have a tremendous impact on those who have made the complaints, on the bereaved families and on the former police officers involved. We will put in place measures which will provide more support for these people while at the same time helping to improve the investigative process," said Mr Holmes.