The former chief executive of the Police Ombudsman's office has called for Al Hutchinson to leave his post immediately. Sam Pollock resigned in April because he had lost confidence in the direction and independence of the office. He held his post for over 10 years. Mr Hutchinson has confirmed that he will step down next year, earlier than planned, but Mr Pollock told the BBC's Spotlight programme that he should go immediately. "Until recently I had urged Mr Hutchinson to fix what was wrong and to fix it quickly," he said. "I'd even urged the minister to support the Police Ombudsman in ensuring that it was fixed quickly. "Now I feel let down by so much of what's happened, I would have to say on a personal level and on a professional level I think he should resign." Mr Pollock announced his resignation in March, claiming the independence of the office has been lowered. 'Conflict' He told the Spotlight programme why he felt he had to leave his job. "I sensed, in the end, a dilemma or a conflict in terms of dealing with the whole issue of informants," said Mr Pollock. "To speak about the involvement of an informant either directly or indirectly in murder, the loss of life, some atrocities, you cannot fudge that." Al Hutchison has said he will step down as Police Ombudsman next June. Ulster Unionist MLA Basil McCrea said the "issue about whether Al Hutchinson stays or goes is irrelevant". "The decision is that he is going and that we're going to have to do something different," he said. "The reason why he has to stay on is because there's many other functions that his office has to carry out in the meantime, and we need somebody in place. "But when you look at the bigger question, about can we look to the office of the ombudsman to investigate the past, to these highly contentious issues, I have to say that I do not think that is recoverable. "It is clear to me now that there is nothing that we can do with that office that will actually restore confidence to the way that it was originally envisaged, perhaps 10 years ago." SDLP MLA Alex Attwood cautioned against any moves to shut down the organisation. "The Police Ombudsman's office - if it was free of interference, if it was free from political meddling, if it was free to get on with its job in the way that it did before, then confidence in that office could be restored," he said. "I am sending out a big health warning that those who are now gathering to undo the concept and the work of the Police Ombudsman's office will be gathering to undo the work of policing change, transformation and Patten, which we struggled so long to achieve and which has so well served the people of the north. "Given all the questions that are now more and more arising about the past, let those who want truth and accountability gather themselves and create mechanisms to do it." The programme has also uncovered failings in a number of investigations by the ombudsman, including a complaint from the family of murdered republican informer Denis Donaldson. The self-confessed republican informer was shot dead at a remote cottage in Donegal in April 2006. But the ombudsman declared the case closed last year with a finding of 'no misconduct' by the police. Spotlight has established that investigators were not aware of a potentially vital piece of information that may shed light on what happened in Donegal. However, the ombudsman rejected claims that his office has gone soft on the police. "I can assure everybody that we do deliver independent, impartial, evidence-based reports," said Mr Hutchinson. "And whether that is perceived by the public or is not is certainly a matter of debate."