PCSP is delivering value for money, says chairman

Alderman John Blair spoke out this week following public criticism of PCSPs after a Criminal Justice Inspection report revealed that, on average, they spend 43 per cent of their funding on administration costs.

Speaking during last Monday night’s Development Committee meeting, Alderman Blair stressed that the CJI study found that Newtownabbey has the second lowest administration costs (24 per cent of its funding) among Northern Ireland’s 26 PCSPs.

“It is an example of how in places there is much better work going on for much less administrative cost,” he commented.

“This council is not part of the negative story that was splashed around the country just a week or so ago.”

Speaking to the Times, Alderman Blair said that the local PCSP is “meeting or exceeding” most of its targets, describing its overall performance as “good”.

Referring to the CJI report, he added: “Obviously there have to be some administration costs such as staffing, but overall Newtownabbey PCSP comes out of it very favourably.”