The North's Policing Board is expected to approve the resignation of Sir Ronnie Flanagan as Chief Constable today. He tendered his resignation at the end of November and will have completed his statutory three-months' notice next Thursday.
The board has the power to ask him to remain until a successor is found, but following the announcement on Tuesday that Sir Ronnie is to join the police inspectorate in England and Wales, it is accepted that he will leave Belfast by the end of March, after just over five years in the job.
Sir Ronnie is to fill one of two vacancies with Her Majesty's Inspectors of Constabulary and he will oversee the forces in the eastern region of England,including London's Metropolitan Police Service and the City of London Police.
One of the vacancies arises following the retirement of Mr Dan Crompton, who had worked with Sir Ronnie on the Omagh bombing investigation.
Members of the board have told The Irish Times his resignation is not now an issue and that the date of Sir Ronnie's departure will be decided on a pragmatic basis. However the DUP believes the new service should not be left without a chief constable.
Mr Ian Paisley jnr has said: "It doesn't lend itself to good policing." Other members are keen for a quick departure by the Chief Constable although they are prepared to agree to a couple of weeks for Sir Ronnie to clear out his desk.
Any suggestion that he should stay on as head of the PSNI until the first recruits to the new service graduate from training on April 5th will be opposed.
The Deputy Chief Constable, Mr Colin Cramphorn, is expected to become acting Chief Constable while detailed procedures concerning the finding of a replacement for Sir Ronnie and two Assistant Chief Constables are put in place.
The board is also expected to approve advertisements for the position of chief constable.
One decision falling to an acting chief constable concerns the future of the police full-time reserve. The Patten report recommended that it be scrapped. The acting head of the police service will have to review the operation of the reserve and report to the board on its future.
Last night two Ulster Unionist MPs called on Sir Ronnie to stall moves to absorb the reserve into the regular police service, which itself is being downsized.
Mr David Burnside, the South Antrim MP, and his colleague, the Lagan Valley MP Mr Jeffrey Donaldson, said: "We are calling on (Sir Ronnie) to retain full operational capability of the full-time reserve for at least three years."
Mr Burnside claimed: "Hundreds are scheduled to leave the service through severance with paramilitary activity, racketeering and crime on the increase. The present level of crime demands the manpower that only is immediately available through the continued use of the full-time reserve."
The UUP is pressing the Northern Secretary to retain the reserve. Dr Reid says he will act on the Chief Constable's advice.