Carl Sargeant: I’m very grateful for your advice, Llywydd. The issue for us is if an offer comes into that land base, as I said during my contribution, it’s still open for offers from other businesses. We haven’t fixed an opinion on whether the prison should go ahead or whether other business should go ahead. That is completely normal business.
Carl Sargeant: I’m very grateful for your advice, Llywydd. Just in regard to the flooding issues, it would be up to the Ministry of Justice to make a case through a flood consequence assessment as that process moves forward. The motion and amendments, in different ways, invite you to endorse misleading accounts of the role and actions of this Welsh Government. We’ve not chosen the site. The proposal...
Carl Sargeant: Respectfully, to the Member, I think what we should remain to do is stick to the facts. We are making many assumptions about what’s happening here. The two-day event held by the Ministry of Justice with your community is an important process where you can ask those questions effectively, which, I hope, will be answered accordingly by the Ministry of Justice. Llywydd, the issue in regard to...
Carl Sargeant: Well, respectfully, these are matters for the Ministry of Justice. This is not in our ownership—[Interruption.] This is not our project. This is of the Ministry of Justice. What we do welcome is the Ministry of Justice’s intention—[Interruption.]
Carl Sargeant: I’m very grateful, Llywydd. I took about five interventions. We welcome the Ministry of Justice’s intention to hold a two-day community event that will give visitors and residents the chance to see and comment on the proposals before a formal planning application is made. And I’ve heard many contributions from Members in the Chamber this afternoon, which are all valid conditions around...
Carl Sargeant: No, we haven’t. I’m happy to take an intervention.
Carl Sargeant: Sorry, I think that the play on words or interpretation of what I said—. If I may clarify that position, as I have just done today, we have offered 20 sites across the south Wales region, as we would do for any business or any other developer. That is not unusual for the way Governments do business. I think—. Dai, did you want to intervene?
Carl Sargeant: Okay.
Carl Sargeant: What I said was we have been asked by the Ministry of Justice to discuss an options agreement about the land, but we have not sold the land or discussed an agreement on the sale or the value of the land.
Carl Sargeant: One second. The Government is not playing a role in developing the prison or a role in the community. We may comment on the proposals when they become available. Llywydd, we have granted the Ministry of Justice two licences to carry out work on that land. These include ecology mitigation measures and, again, this is normal practice. Developers want to know what the make-up of the land is...
Carl Sargeant: The details around that would be a general principle that there are mitigation measures that all businesses can react to in terms of flood plains and flood developments, and it is certainly not unusual for us to provide opportunities of land usage for all businesses, as I said. That choice is by the developer then, if they wish to pursue to develop or otherwise. The Ministry of Justice...
Carl Sargeant: Thank you, Llywydd. I’ve listened carefully to today’s debate, but the Government will be opposing both the motion and the amendment as laid. I must start by setting the record straight on the actions and powers of the Welsh Government, and some of the contributions that were made in the Chamber today. Responsibility for prisons lies with the UK Government. The Welsh Government was...
Carl Sargeant: Will the Member give way?
Carl Sargeant: Could she allude to how we’ve indicated that we are supportive of the prison? What documentation has the Member got to show?
Carl Sargeant: The Member is right to raise this issue. I’m very keen to ensure that we get a real response from real people when we are developing a strategy. That’s why I have survivors on my advisory panel, to tell me about their real-life experiences, to make sure we can deliver on those. I’m working currently with many of the sector individuals regarding sustainable funding models and service...
Carl Sargeant: I personally am supportive of the Member’s principles behind this. I have written to Sarah Newton MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Crime, Safeguarding and Vulnerability, to ascertain her views on a campaign for a register of perpetrators. I will consider the issue in light of her response around that. I’ve also sought some legal advice around the competency of the Assembly...
Carl Sargeant: I think faith communities play an important role in terms of making sure that we continue to keep a welcome in Wales, and I’m certainly happy to endorse the Member’s comments and thank them personally for the work that they’re doing in our communities.
Carl Sargeant: I thank the Member for her question. Our national strategy sets out the actions we are taking to support victims of domestic abuse. A delivery framework to support the strategy will be published shortly and we are also developing a communications framework, a survivor engagement framework and a model for sustainable funding of provision.
Carl Sargeant: I think the Member is right to raise that, and I will ask my team who deal with this particular part of the department to give me reassurances about the finances and how they are distributed and used, particularly regarding the young gentleman that you raise with me. If the Member wishes to write to me with more detail, I’ll give that some more measured thought around my response to that.
Carl Sargeant: I thank the Member for his question. This year, I have provided £410,000 to help local authorities build capacity and expertise to support the arrival of unaccompanied asylum children in Wales.
