The US police chief overseeing the reform in the Police Service of Northern Ireland has complained of the slow progress in restructuring Special Branch.
Oversight Commissioner Mr Tom Constantine said he had found substantial progress in moves to implement the Patten blueprint.
But he warned the merger of Special Branch with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is moving so slowly that the Oversight Commissioner's remit could run out before the new system is in place.
"It has become increasingly obvious that the co-ordination between Special Branch and other units of the Police Service has yet to occur in the manner envisioned," the commissioner said.
He noted that an inquiry by Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens into allegations of Special Branch collusion with loyalist paramilitary killers will not now be finalised until next April, with his own oversight assessment then delayed until the Autumn.
But the current term of the Oversight Commissioner is due to finish on May 31st, next year. "This effectively means that there could be no oversight review of the plans and strategies of the Police Service to implement the Independent Commission's recommendations for Special Branch," he said.
Mr Constantine's latest and most comprehensive report yet has studied overall progress towards achieving Patten since Autumn last year. Although it could take up to seven more years to complete all of the recommendations, he reckoned the critical areas will be completed by late 2004.