Naomi Long: Cuts to front-line services inevitable, says justice minister

The justice minister has said the only way her department can "move towards balancing the books" without a budget is to make cuts to front-line services. There had been hope that Stormont could agree a multi-year budget in January for the first time in more than 10 years, but that did not happen. This means government departments started the financial year in April without being certain how much they have to spend. Naomi Long said that has left her in the midst of a "crisis situation" and she was concerned about the impact it would have on front-line services such as policing, probation, prisons and the youth justice agency. On Wednesday, the chair of the Police Federation of Northern Ireland said a recovery plan which aims to lift police officer numbers to 7,000 by 2028 was in "grave doubt". Liam Kelly said the number of Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officers was "supposed to grow" to 6,500 by April 2026 - the end of year one of the recovery plan. That number currently stands at 6,315 - "35 officers less than where the original baseline was drawn in 2025," he said. Speaking to the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme Long said: "I haven't waited for the Police Federatio