Q397 Mr. Dave Anderson: What are the implications if the Protocols go through saying you must work with the police? If you come to a decision that you cannot do that will you have to stop your work?

Mr Auld: No is the short answer to that. I think most of the projects that we have at the moment are entirely voluntary and they work just as successfully as the projects that are funded. Like Alternatives, the majority of the projects are volunteer-led.

+++

Q415 Mr. Dave Anderson: If you sign the Protocols do you think they will have a detrimental effect on the service that you provide because people might not want to come to you?

Mr Auld: It is one of the major difficulties. On the point that you were making earlier to Tom and Debbie about expanding and rolling the situation out, we have 15 projects and in West Belfast we have four or five projects, hundreds of people come to us and they walk by the police stations. They come to us because they want to come to us, they do not want to go to the police. I suppose the point I am making is in any community there is a large proportion of crime, particularly in working class communities, that is not reported anyway and those are primarily the people we are able to tap into. Some of those issues are very serious. It is not a question of "Go to the CRJ or go to the police", it is "Go to the CRJ or deal with it yourself" and if they are dealing with it themselves they are going to deal with it violently. We are creating conditions where people do not have to do that, and that suits a lot of people. If you have got a group of young males who are clashing at the weekend and one side has to go to the police, they will lose respect in their own area, they will lose face by going to the police because they are going to be seen as wimps in the area, they are not going to do that. But if they can come to CRJ where the situation is mediated they do not lose face and they will get the things resolved so things do not have to escalate.

This is an uncorrected transcript of evidence taken in public and reported to the House. The transcript has been placed on the internet on the authority of the Committee. Neither witnesses nor Members have had the opportunity to correct the record. The transcript is not yet an approved formal record of these proceedings.

Promoted by Paul Foy on behalf of Dave Anderson, both of St Cuthbert's Church Hall, Shibdon Road, Blaydon, NE21 5PT