Government to fund police college

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The government is expected to announce on Tuesday that it will provide all of the funding needed for a new £130m police training college.

However, the college will also be used by the fire and rescue service and prison staff.

A 210-acre site near Cookstown was selected for the college in 2004.

But work has not started as building the college would cost at least £130m and until now the government has said it will provide just £90m.

An international policing conference is starting at the Waterfront Hall on Tuesday and Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain is expected to announce that the government will now provide all of the funding.

Such an announcement would avoid questions about why the government has delayed a project that the police say is essential for future training needs.

The conference is about improving policing and looking to the future.

However, the initial plan has changed and the college will no longer only be for the use of the police - the fire and rescue service and prison staff will also it.

Until now, each service had wanted to build its own training centre.

The police college would have cost around £130m, the fire service had planned a centre costing around £30m and the prison service hoped to build new facilities costing up to £10m.

That would have been a total cost of £170m - but the integrated college could be built for about £130m.

'State-of-the art'

An integrated college is not what the Policing Board had originally planned, but government sources have said it will be state-of-the art and among the best of its kind in Europe.

After more than three years of waiting, the board is likely to give the announcement a warm welcome.

The project still needs final approval from the Treasury - but discussions have already taken place and Mr Hain is believed to be expecting a positive response.

If he gets it, work could finally start next year.

It is envisaged the complex would have accommodation for more than 300 people, 40 classrooms and purpose built villages to train officers in a variety of real life situations.

The college was a key recommendation in the Patten Report on police reform.