7. 3. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:12 pm on 1 November 2016.

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Photo of Mark Isherwood Mark Isherwood Conservative 4:12, 1 November 2016

Could I call for two statements, please? The first is on support for credit unions in Wales. This is, in fact, the first Plenary we've had since International Credit Union Day on 20 October, reflecting on the movement's history, promoting its achievements and raising awareness about the great work that credit unions are doing around the world, and giving members the opportunity to get involved. The reason particularly I ask for a statement is, in March, I asked the then-Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty in this Chamber about Welsh Government funding, which was due to end then in 2017. In two thirds of loan transactions, people would save by using a credit union, but only 2.5 per cent of people in Wales currently do so. I asked the Minister then,

‘how do you respond to the call by credit unions in Wales for the next Welsh Government to provide capacity-building support for the transition beyond 2017?’

She replied:

‘that would be a matter for the next Government. I think we’ve supported credit unions very well over the past few years.’

Well, I call for statement in the context of the next few years, given the Minister's response on that occasion and, of course, the importance of International Credit Union Day.

Secondly, and finally, I call for a statement on the implications for devolved services and devolved matters of the conviction of a retired North Wales Police superintendent at Mold Crown Court, related to historic child abuse charges—again, since the Assembly last met in this Chamber. We know that Lady Justice Macur, the deputy presiding judge of the Court of Appeal, recently re-examined that particular case as part of her work on the north Wales child abuse tribunal of 1997-98, and she stated that that officer had lied when first questioned under caution about the offence, and she said that the tribunal knew about the case in 1997, but did not obtain the file because North Wales Police considered it not relevant. We know that the solicitor who represented one of the victims when evidence was given against him by Flintshire's then senior legal officer in court, successfully defending that young man against false allegations brought in the way that I described, said he'd been threatened personally because of his inquiries defending that victim. We know that when Flintshire’s internal audit manager—