Rhys ab Owen: I nominate Heledd Fychan.
Rhys ab Owen: Brif Weinidog, the Welsh Government has funded CSOs, or PCSOs as they were then called, for nearly a decade. I can reiterate that Welsh chief officers are happy with that, they're glad for the additional funding, and it's raised their capability and their visibility, which their English counterparts don't have, but as policing is still a reserved matter and the funding therefore is...
Rhys ab Owen: Thank you, First Minister, for setting out your plan.
Rhys ab Owen: I don't doubt at all your sincerity, and the Counsel General's sincerity, yet your pleas for home rule will be rejected by the Westminster Government, a Government obsessed by centralising powers. Throughout the centuries and throughout the continent, Westminster has ignored the cries of home rule until it's too late and the inevitable happens—independence—the de facto position of nations...
Rhys ab Owen: 5. What discussions has the Welsh Government had with the UK Government regarding prisons and the probation service since the election? OQ56680
Rhys ab Owen: 6. What's the timetable for implementing the recommendations of the Commission on Justice in Wales? OQ56678
Rhys ab Owen: 1. Will the Commission make a statement on efforts to protect the Senedd to ensure that Members and staff are safe? OQ56682
Rhys ab Owen: Thank you very much, Minister. As you'll be aware, one of the major issues of the justice system in Wales is the lack of specific data for Wales. When HMPPS gave evidence to the justice commission in the spring of 2019, they said that their statisticians were collaborating with those of the Welsh Government to look at the level of recidivism.
Rhys ab Owen: I'll turn to English with regard to the next point, because I'll quote exactly what they said. They went further and said that a working group had been established between them and the Welsh Government 'to look at disaggregating data' in our part of the justice system. My question, therefore, Minister, is: how is that important work going of disaggregating the data in that very important...
Rhys ab Owen: Hopefully, that means I have four now. [Laughter.] Diolch yn fawr—
Rhys ab Owen: —Dirprwy Lywydd. Rhun ap Iorwerth stated yesterday where he thought the plan unravelled—the basic problem of you protecting the union first and putting the people of Wales second. But, today, I want to concentrate on the implementation of your plan, and whether it does border on the verge of utopia, as quoted by Martin Shipton this morning in The Western Mail. Firstly, I want to...
Rhys ab Owen: The Secretary of State said immediately that he rejected your plan. We've had a robust argument from Mr Millar today against your plan. It will be impossible to deliver this without the UK Government. The Home Office refused to give evidence to the Silk commission, to their own commission. So, how are we going to get the UK Government to become part of this plan? Are you reliant on a Labour...
Rhys ab Owen: Diolch, Cwnsler Cyffredinol. But there is a second problem, isn't there? It's not just the UK Government that's not listening. Your own parliamentary Labour Party isn't listening either. The commitment to devolved justice disappeared from the 2019 manifesto; in 2020, after the publication of the commission on justice report, Chris Bryant, in an argument in Westminster, said he was against...
Rhys ab Owen: Thank you. May I raise a third problem that you have—not just the UK Government, not just your own parliamentary group in Westminster, but also the rest of the UK Governments? To reform the union you will have to have support from not only the Westminster Government, but also the SNP Government in Scotland, the Northern Ireland Executive—wherever power lies there—and also the English...
Rhys ab Owen: Well, Dirprwy Lywydd, I did have a fourth question after all.
Rhys ab Owen: Thank you very much for that response, and I'm very pleased that you are to meet on 8 July. One of the major problems raised by the commission on justice was the lack of co-operation with the justice system in Wales, and there was a clear recommendation to establish a law council for Wales. What's stopping that from happening, and when will it be established?
Rhys ab Owen: Thank you very much, Llywydd. It was good to see the public gallery open yesterday, and hopefully other areas of the Senedd will be able to reopen to the public soon. What steps has the Commission taken to ensure that the Senedd estate is safe, in relation to COVID, for all building users?
Rhys ab Owen: Trefnydd, I know that my colleague Mike Hedges raised this issue, the cladding issue, last week, but subsequently I've met with further residents in Cardiff Bay, and I know there's a demonstration this Saturday about the cladding issues in Cardiff; they're going from the BBC to the Senedd. Trefnydd, the Welsh Government needs to provide answers to these residents. They need to know the amount...
Rhys ab Owen: Thank you for your statement, Counsel General. There are a number of things contained within it that we in Plaid Cymru could agree with.
Rhys ab Owen: A majority of us in this place are concerned about the so-called muscular unionism of the Conservative Party in Westminster, or shall we call it as it is—English nationalist tendency of the Boris Johnson Westminster Government? Plaid Cymru will stand firm with the Welsh Government against the attempt by those over there to overturn the democracy we have here in Wales—the trojan horse of...
