The man in charge of overseeing policing reform in Northern Ireland has released a report today questioning the level of progress being made in key areas of police restructuring.

Tom Constantine, the man overseeing Police Service of Northern Ireland changeover, said that although there has been progress – with the establishment of the Policing Board and the Police Ombudsman – changes within the Special Branch were not as forthcoming.

This latest report reviews the state of progress made on the implementation of recommendations made by the Independent Commission for Policing over the past 12 months.

In his 86-page document Mr Constantine said lack of progress on a new police college, high levels of sick leave within the force and the lack of support within the community for the new police service were areas of “increasing concern”.

He warned of the dangers of “cherry-picking” recommendations and strongly advised against the implementation of only certain proposals. Nonetheless, Mr Constantine reported that “overall” there had been clear and consistent progress since the changeover.

Responding to the commissioner’s assessment, Policing Chairman Professor Desmond Rea said: “This report provides a comprehensive analysis of progress to date and I think shows just how far we have come in a relatively short period of time."

Reacting to the report, the newly installed Secretary of State, Paul Murphy, said: "One of the most significant things I've noticed is that there is an enormous change in the way that policing is carried out here. We've got a new badge, a new name, flags aren't flown anymore over police stations, above all we have got nationalists and unionists on the policing board and, of course, we have Catholics now joining the police service as well."

SDLP policing spokesperson Alex Attwood said the report had acknowledged the "the good work being done on a wide front by the Policing Board and by others".

He added: "The report clearly validates the decision to go on the Policing Board, the heavy lifting done by the board and the developing of strategies of the board to get policing right. It also creates a further basis for others to join in its work."

Sinn Fein, however, said the report indicated that "the Special Branch are still running the show".

North Belfast MLA, Gerry Kelly, said: "It is obvious that Special Branch is still a force within a force and that they are resisting any change. Catholics and nationalists do not trust the present policing arrangements and this is why they are not joining the PSNI."

(GMcG)