Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:
“It is staggering that the PSNI are claiming that they are not acting on allegations surrounding the abuse of the expenses system at Stormont because the regulatory authorities at Stormont didn’t refer any possible criminal issues to them.
“Do the police make a habit of only investigating possible criminal conduct if they are asked to do so by a regulatory body? When did they stop investigating possible criminality when it is brought to their attention from other sources?
“This is a nonsense position to adopt.
“In November 2014 I wrote to the Chief Constable following the broadcasting of the two Spotlight programmes. I referred him to the BBC investigations and requested that “the PSNI review same with a view to investigating all potential breaches of the criminal law.”
“I wrote to him again on 5th January 2015 including correspondence which I had had with the Assembly authorities about the matter.
“I wrote again on 16th October last year reminding him of my previous letters and saying I would appreciate an update – not least because I had been contacted by a member of the public asking what had been done about the matter.
“On 6th January 2016 – one year and two months after my first letter on the subject – I finally received a response from the PSNI to say they were aware of “a review conducted by the Stormont Independent Financial Review Panel” and because there had been no referral from the panel to the PSNI “there is therefore no police investigation at this stage”.
“It is my understanding that the Independent Panel passed the PSNI letter to the Assembly Commission. So, did the Commission reply and if not, why not? I have an outstanding Assembly Question probing this very issue. Given the Commission’s feet-dragging on this issue it would not surprise me if they did not encourage police investigation. But the police had a request from me to investigate, they had damning Spotlight programmes, so sitting on their hands should not have been an option.”