Item 5 is a statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children: working together for safer communities. I call Carl Sargeant to speak to that statement.

Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. The safety and security of our communities has always been a priority. This Government is committed to making our communities even safer in the future, and ‘Taking Wales Forward’ sets out our priorities for community safety for the next five years. Specifically, we will build on our work to address violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence, and we will work with the police and crime commissioners, the UK Government and other partners on issues including cyber crime, security and on tackling extremism. We will continue to encourage closer working between emergency services.

Dirprwy Lywydd, making our communities safer requires action across Government, and tackling substance misuse, for example—this is led by the Minister for Social Services and Public Health. And interventions like these, often with some of the most vulnerable citizens, have wide-ranging implications for the safety of our communities. Indeed, I am clear that safer communities cannot be achieved by a single Government—whether UK or Welsh Government—service or community. This is a shared agenda.

Within my own portfolio, much has already been achieved across Wales by working with our partners. Together with the Youth Justice Board Cymru, we have established a Wales youth justice advisory panel. This brings together senior leaders from local government, health, probation, the third sector and police, and it provides co-ordinated leadership and strategic direction across policy areas, set by both the Welsh and UK Governments in relation to our Children First strategy for Wales. The impact of the collaborative work led by the panel over the past five years has resulted in a significant decline in first-time entrants to the youth justice system, a reduction in the number of young people in the secure estate and an effective, evidence-based approach to early intervention—results that outperform those of England.

And as a result of the close co-operation with the police forces in Wales, we have recruited and deployed 500 additional community support officers across Wales. In addition, together with the National Offender Management Service in Wales, we are developing a national framework that focuses on early intervention and further integration of service delivery. In this way, we aim to the target the finite public service resources more effectively.

And, of course, we’ve introduced groundbreaking legislation to address violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence. We’ve appointed a national adviser, published our first national strategy and issued guidance and training resources. We’ve produced several high-profile campaigns, including the award winning Cross the Line campaign, which deals with emotional abuse. I also chair the multi-agency VAWDA advisory group, which brings together representatives from across the statutory and third sectors, along with leading academics. It provides strategic leadership on the implementation of the Act and the national training framework. The group will oversee the delivery of the new national strategy. Crucially, this approach ensures that we listen to the voices of survivors.

With our partners, we are, in many aspects of our work, leading the way to tackle modern slavery, attracting both UK and international attention. Through the work of the Wales partnership, we are raising awareness of slavery to improve reporting and help ensure victims get the support they need and the perpetrators are brought to justice.

But keeping communities safe does not just mean preventing or tackling crime. For example, fire and other hazards present a significant risk. Our fire services have been hugely successful in tackling these risks. Since responsibility was devolved in 2005, fires and fire casualties have almost halved. As a result, our firefighters increasingly have the capacity to deal with other threats, too, and they routinely respond to flooding incidents, a position that I hope to formalise in a new legal duty soon. Many are now supporting our ambulance service in dealing with medical emergencies where they’re better placed to do so also. And their preventative work, which has such a great impact in reducing fires, is being extended to embrace other domestic hazards. We are proud to continue to support our fire services in this crucial work.

In keeping our communities safe, we also need to be conscious of the risks that we face from natural and man-made hazards and from threats of terrorism. That’s why we are supporting our emergency services and other agencies in building and strengthening their capability to protect us from those risks. The Welsh Government exercises a leadership role in maintaining and enhancing a structure to co-ordinate emergency planning, response and recovery across Wales, which, ultimately, provides protection for the public. We will strengthen this role and seek further powers to help us fulfil our responsibilities more effectively.

But, Llywydd, the agenda, by nature, is complex. There is no universally agreed definition of community safety and we are working in constantly changing contexts. Legislation and policies straddle devolved and non-devolved responsibilities. Seventeen years of devolution have necessarily resulted in differences between our policy approach and that of our UK Government. We’ve seen the introduction of police and crime commissioners. The Assembly has had primary law-making powers since 2011 and the benefits have included the establishment of public services boards. So, these changes have brought new opportunities, but have not all simplified the context of the work that we do.

Last year, the Auditor General for Wales published a report on community safety in Wales. The report reflected the complexities of the agenda and highlighted some of the positive work within Wales. The report raised a number of matters, however, and while we will vary on the specific issues on views, I believe the report provides a valuable opportunity for us all to take stock.

With the agreement of, and alongside, those key partners I’ve mentioned earlier who hold the levers for change, I’m establishing an oversight group to review the current arrangements. It will help develop a shared vision for safer communities in Wales that builds on the excellent work already done or under way. This review will also take into account the recommendations of the Auditor General for Wales. I want the review to be ambitious in its thinking and develop a clear vision for community safety that is robust, relevant and responsive—a vision for the long term. I thank the Llywydd.

Thank you very much. Mark Isherwood.

Diolch, and thanks for the statement. Of course, we share with you the recognition that safer communities cannot be achieved by a single government, service or community. This is a shared agenda. You referred to the decline in first-time entrants to the youth justice system. As you know, the problem is the persistent recurrence of repeat offenders who then increasingly end up in custody, but what consideration have you given to the independent Taylor review of youth justice, particularly its proposals for work training schemes to help reform and help offenders find work on release.

You referred to close co-operation with police forces in Wales and the recruitment of 500 community support officers across Wales. What engagement or involvement have you had, more broadly, where we learned at the North Wales Police briefing for Assembly Members and Members of Parliament at North Wales Police headquarters last month—which, unfortunately, you were not able to be present at, but some of your colleagues were—that, in north Wales, for example, there had been an increase in special constables to 192, in police special volunteers to 110, and the starting of the volunteer police cadets programme having reached, I think, 60 by that stage.

You referred to the fire and rescue services—timely, given yesterday’s press coverage of a rise in deliberate fires in Wales, with services diverted from other 999 calls and with fire crews called to more than 7,100 deliberate fires in 2015-16—an increase of almost 11 per cent on the previous year. Now, this is something that has come out year after year, with you and other Ministers or Cabinet Secretaries holding the relevant portfolio. I wonder if you could tell us again, or provide an update on what engagement you’re having with the fire services, and other agencies—hopefully, including the third sector—regarding addressing that.

You referred to ambulance services. Again, at the North Wales Police briefing, we heard about police officers being called upon to supplement the ambulance service on calls. They said that they were assisting with managing the impact of hospital pressures to improve decision making around when the ambulance service should call the police in order to reduce unnecessary attendance by police at non-police-related incidents. Again, I don’t know whether it’s yourself or other colleagues in Cabinet, but perhaps you could indicate what role, if any, the Welsh Government might be playing in that.

You referred rightly to the Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Act. When you made a statement on this last November you referred to statutory guidance requiring local authorities to designate a member of staff to champion violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence in schools and other settings. I indicated that the Minister at the time of the legislation had stated that guidance would drive a whole-school approach by appointing a staff member, pupil and governor in those roles. You responded positively. I wonder if you could indicate what progress might have been achieved thus far.

At the same time, I referred to the call by NSPCC for a comprehensive child sexual abuse prevention strategy for Wales, following the ‘How safe are our children? 2016’ report of a 26 per cent increase in the number of recorded sexual offences against children under 16 in Wales. I also referred to pre-custodial programmes for male perpetrators of domestic violence and a scheme that you acknowledged, Atal y Fro, which is also developing programmes, in addition to those for men, for women and adolescent perpetrators. You might recall that I worked alongside colleagues, hard, to try and get this into the legislation. The Minister at the conclusion, although not accepting that, committed the Welsh Government to take this forward and look at the evidence accordingly. What action have your colleagues taken to look at the only accredited programme in Wales to see how this might be better embraced and fill in the gaps that exist?

Joyce Watson took the Chair.

As you might know, Erin Pizzey, the campaigner against domestic violence who opened the world’s first refuge in Chiswick in 1971, came to the Assembly recently. She said that domestic violence was about generational family violence, that we need to look at parenting, and that if we don’t intervene, these people will fill our prisons and hospitals. How do you respond to her statement, therefore, that both women and men need to be part of the dialogue to address that? I know that you have certainly associated yourself with that dialogue.

You refer to there being no universally agreed definition of community safety and to public services boards. You don’t refer to community safety partnerships, as I can see, although these are the bodies that target the main crime and disorder problems in our counties. How do you respond to repeated concern that the voice of third sector programmes such as, for example, the Flintshire and Wrexham Watch Association delivering the OWL programme, haven’t got an equal strategic voice at that level and that, perhaps, we could deliver more if they did?

Of course, we have heard reference today to Safer Internet Day, to make the internet a safer and better place for all, especially children and young people. Your colleague the Cabinet Secretary for Education has issued a statement about keeping children and young people—learners—safe online. But, given that this also reaches into our communities, I’m wondering what engagement she may have had with you over how to deliver this, not just in the education setting but more broadly.

With substance misuse, you refer to the tackling of substance misuse. We know that deaths from all drug poisoning were up 153 per cent in Wales since records began, and that alcohol deaths comprise nearly 5 per cent of all deaths in Wales. How do you respond to the concern that area planning boards are evolving in different ways—but not necessarily in better ways—leading to variations that, in some cases, have seen some all but disappear in favour of statutory agency leads, and the third sector, by omission, often absent from strategic planning? It’s similar to the previous point. In terms of the Welsh Government’s substance misuse delivery scheme, you talk about working with partners to address gaps in tier 4 services—residential detox and rehab. Of course, it is nine years since a Welsh Government-commissioned report identified the gaps, and the Welsh Government committed to a three-centre drug and alcohol detox rehab model, a central referral unit for Wales, and a substantial increase in capacity.

Could you bring your comments to a conclusion, please?

I wonder if you could indicate what progress you have achieved with that. Finally, if I may, a subject you would expect me to highlight, given that, last week, there was a conference on sustainable communities and asset-based community development at the SWALEC stadium in Cardiff: how do you respond to that conference’s call for an approach that promotes citizen-led action in the first instance, and then leverages outside support to match community assets when needed, building on existing community strength to support stronger, more sustainable communities for the future?

I thank the Member for his wide-ranging questions. [Laughter.] I was rapidly running out of space on my page then, but I will try and cover most of the points that the Member raised. Can I start with his first point, and the Charlie Taylor review in terms of youth justice services? I have made the Welsh Government’s view very clear to the UK Government on Charlie Taylor’s report. I don’t think it properly reflects the actual issues in terms of what is happening in Wales. The way that we have been able to deal with youth justice is very different, and the devolved services and functions that follow from the youth justice service are a clear indicator that we are doing something particularly well in Wales in this space. I would ask the Member to look at the pilot schemes where we have introduced the enhanced case management of young offenders. Indeed, there is a pilot in Flintshire, where we’ve had some fantastic outcomes from intervention at the very hard end of repeat offenders, where they are not now reoffending because of the support mechanisms we have in place with the youth justice board. It’s something that I’m hoping we can roll out across the whole of Wales, and in conjunction with the Ministers in Westminster. I have had a long conversation with him. I met Dr Phillip Lee, the MP, just before Christmas and discussed about how we can look at Wales as a very specific case, because of the devolved nature, and he was open to further discussions on that.

I think, in terms of the issues around the emergency services that the Member raised around the police and fire service, I pay tribute to both of those organisations, one devolved and one non-devolved, but, actually, they work in a Welsh context, and they do a fantastic job at the front line. I pay tribute to operational staff on the ground and people who work behind the scenes, who are often the unsung heroes, too. The volunteer police cadets and the Phoenix project that the fire service is operating are two very proactive schemes where, again, they are thinking outside the box—they’re doing fire service plus or a police plus agenda, which is really getting to the heart of our communities.

And on the issue raised around the fire service and deliberate fires, this is something that the previous Minister had a joint meeting on with local authorities, the fire authorities and the police, to see how they could clamp down on unlawful grass fires. We have had some success in that, but, at the end of the day, deliberate fires are a crime and they should be reported, and we will tackle those issues. And the issue of deliberate fires in households or industry is often a way of covering up an additional crime as well, and it’s something that the fire service is very keen to make sure that we clamp down on.

I think I'm right in saying, but in terms of the issue of the police and responding to health calls or health concerns, I think I'm right in saying that some of the control rooms now have a health professional based in the control room, where they’re able to advise better. If I'm wrong, please forgive me, but I think I'm right that in some of the forces, if not all, there’s someone in that space, and it's something we wish to continue working on with our health colleagues.

The VAWDA process: our training of ‘ask and act’ is rolling out across many of the public sector organisations, including Welsh Government. We are also including the training programme for organisations that aren't covered by the Act, and there are lots of housing associations that have already started that training as well. And I agree with the Member around that whole-school approach, and it’s something I will update Members on when I've got some more detail, and I have taken that up with my team on that very issue.

Perpetrator programmes: we have to do more work on this. There is another scheme operating in south Wales, actually, on a trial basis. It has come from Essex Police, and it's called the Drive project, which, again, is another perpetrator-led programme. Atal y Fro is another organisation I'm very familiar with. We do have to tackle this at both ends: make sure we can support individuals who are subject to domestic violence, but also tackle the issue around perpetrators in addition, too.

The final point I’ll pick up is a general-principle approach to engagement with the third sector, and whether that'll be through the OWL project, which the Member raised, or otherwise. The oversight group is a reason why I've started a new approach to look at what community safety looks like and how those partners interact. The auditor general's report in some cases was—. There were some critical points in there, but, actually, I think it gives us an opportunity for a wholly refreshed look at the way we deal with community safety with our partner organisations, including the third sector that the Member raised.

Thank you very much for the statement, and it does include a number of matters. You’ll be very pleased to hear that I’m going to talk about four of those. I note that you are working with the police and crime commissioners on tackling extremism. I’d like to know whether this includes extremism by right-wing white groups, one of the main threats facing us in modern Wales, and whether you have a working programme to work with vulnerable young people who are at the margins of the far right and being drawn to them, unfortunately, at present.

Thank you for the update on the work that has been done since passing the violence against women Act, but as far as I can see, there’s nothing in the statement about developing healthy relationships in our schools. As you know, it was a discussion point when the Bill was going through. So, when will see quality healthy relationships education in our schools? This is an important part of this major societal change that is needed, and the respect that we need to engender towards each other, male or female.

I welcome the update about the wider role of the fire and rescue service following the reduction in fires, and I note that you are considering a new legal duty for response to flooding—something that we have been calling for for a long time. The success with the reduction in fires offers an opportunity to look at wider duties for the fire service. I’d like to know whether you are ready to consider that—that is, to expand out the role of the fire service.

The statement talks a great deal about the collaboration between devolved organisations and those that haven’t been devolved. But, clearly, there is an end point to that and I’m sure that there is conflict that will arise at times. Is that a fact that is becoming more and more frustrating to you, and would devolving the police, for example, help you to reach some of your objectives in this area? Would you be able to make more progress if some of these powers lay in Wales in order to move these issues forward?

I thank the Member for her concise questions. Indeed, on the issue around police and crime commissioners, I meet them on a regular basis, and also meet the chief officers. You’re right to raise the issue around the hate that is being perpetrated by many right-wing individuals. It’s something that the police are very keen to clamp down on. In addition to that, we invest around CONTEST and the extremism board in Wales to make sure we’ve got a handle on what’s going on in our communities. But the reporting has increased, and since Brexit there has been a peak in terms of hate crime, and it’s something that the commissioners are concerned about, and I’ve raised that with them in terms of managing that situation.

With regard to healthy relationships and domestic violence, I’m grateful for the Member’s comments on the positive actions that we are continuing to deliver as a Government, but you’re pushing at an open door here with me about healthy relationships and how we develop those. The Diamond review is a critical part of looking at the curriculum for the future, and I know that the Cabinet Secretary for Education—we have had conversations about what healthy relationships look like in terms of moving that forward.

The fire service have done a tremendous job in reducing the number of fires. As I said earlier, there’s been around a 50 per cent reduction in the fire activity of the authorities, but it’s something I talk to the chief fire officers and the boards about. I spoke to them this week, actually, around the national issues committee, where we’re looking at collaboration and working together to do new duties or new opportunities. It is an important process that we talk to the trade unions and the management of the teams to ensure that we can move forward together in a positive way, where they can move into a new role that secures the fire stations and fire personnel within our communities, which we all value dearly.

In terms of devolving police, we’re not experiencing too much tension at the moment with regard to activity, but our position on devolving the police was very clear in terms of the Wales Bill. We are at a position in time at the moment, but who knows in the future? Devolution may aid us in terms of managing community safety better for us.

The ‘Community safety in Wales’ report, conducted by the auditor general, underscored the complexities associated with improving community safety in Wales. I therefore thank the Cabinet Secretary for making this statement to the Chamber today, and welcome the establishment of the oversight group to review the recommendations made in the auditor general’s report. Whilst there is no universally agreed definition of community safety, I believe there are clear markers as to how the holistic approach of the Welsh Government continues to improve public safety and people’s well-being.

Significant progress has been made and, in the area of youth justice, the establishment of the Wales youth justice advisory panel is a prime example of the benefits of a collaborative approach between national and local government, health professionals and the police. As has been mentioned, the work and legislation undertaken around violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence has been groundbreaking in Wales. I wish to pay tribute to the Cabinet Secretary, Carl Sargeant, for his determination and drive in this critical regard. As a former member of the national probation board, I welcome a collaborative and integrated approach to dealing with adult offenders—vindicated in the Welsh Government’s work with the National Offender Management Service, NOMS.

Similarly, strengthening partnerships between relevant bodies lies at the centre of our radical approach to tackling modern slavery in Wales, and we are rightly proud of our record on this issue. Next month, I will be attending the Gwent anti-slavery seminar, organised by the Gwent police and crime commissioner, Jeff Cuthbert, a pertinent example of stakeholder events that facilitate productive discussion between those from the legal, political, and third sectors.

I welcome also the comments on fire service collaboration. Indeed, improved co-operation between Welsh Government and emergency authorities has facilitated a welcome increase in the recruitment of community support officers. I know that CSOs, like Susan in my own constituency, have a very positive impact on local community engagement. As such, will the Cabinet Secretary outline how the Welsh Labour manifesto pledge to increase the number of community support officers is benefitting people’s well-being in this important regard? Thank you.

I thank the Member for her comments. Wales is absolutely leading the way in the way we deal with youth justice. As I said to Mark Isherwood earlier on, the Charlie Taylor review is not helpful in terms of positioning a different opportunity for the UK to take forward, and I think, actually—. The Minister said to me in London, ‘Actually, we could learn something from Wales here’, which was very encouraging. I do hope that he’ll be visiting us soon to see the work that goes on about that multi-agency approach for delivery. We’re seeing the real detail of reducing offending in many of the actions that we are able to deliver on.

We are the only part of the UK with an anti-slavery co-ordinator, appointed two Governments back. He’s done an incredible amount of work in terms of tackling this hidden slavery agenda. We have visits from countries all over the world coming to Wales to look at the work that we are undertaking here, so we are an exemplar in the way that we are dealing with this. I would encourage the other parts of the UK to consider bringing a group of people—anti-slavery co-ordinators in their own jurisdiction—together in order to tackle this as an island. We need to manage this much better, but we are absolutely dealing with this here in Wales.

The community support officers are a very popular pledge that we delivered. There are 500 across Wales, including—British Transport Police have some of the CSOs. All of you could tell me a story about how they are very close to the community and deliver so much good work in our communities. I’ve been out with some of the CSOs on the beat, which is always entertaining. They’re very well connected and long may that continue. It is our policy to continue with this longer term and I know that the finance Secretary is keen to make sure we have the finances to support them too.

Thank you. The final speaker in this statement—Michelle Brown.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Thank you for your statement, Cabinet Secretary. I welcome the additional community support officers that you’ve announced and spoken about in your statement. However, it’s a pity that, certainly in north Wales, too many police stations are now inaccessible and the premises sold off. The security of having a visible and easy to find police station and an accessible one has been taken away from many people. Will the Cabinet Secretary give us details of the representations he’s made to the police commissioners and the police forces of Wales in respect of closure or downsizing of police stations?

I welcome any efforts made to reduce, and eventually eliminate, violence against women, sexual violence and domestic abuse. As I have commented previously, male teachers and men in public life—for example, pop stars and sportsmen---all have an important role to play in ending violence against women. How are you working to encourage men’s organisations and men in the public eye to become involved in your work to eliminate domestic and sexual violence and help them to understand that they can play a crucial part in securing a happier and safer culture for future generations of women and men?

I agree with the Cabinet Secretary that community safety does not end at crime prevention. Domestic and other accidents can forever change the lives of both the victim and those around them, and prevention, as they say, is better than cure. There is often a series of opportunities along the timeline of an accident, all of which offer a chance to prevent the accident, but the starting point is education and awareness. DangerPoint, in my constituency, is an educational facility that is eliminating future accidents and injury in the home and elsewhere as we speak, as well as making children and young people aware of their social and legal responsibilities, thus helping them keep out of trouble with the authorities. DangerPoint is an independent charity and is the only facility of its kind in Wales. Does the Cabinet Secretary agree with me that this facility should be receiving sustainable funding from Welsh Government and that other such facilities should be supported by Welsh Government and made available to children and young people in the rest of Wales? Thank you.

I thank the Member for all her questions. I’m aware of DangerPoint and I visited there a number of years ago with the Deputy Presiding Officer, Ann Jones, in her constituency—a great programme, and, again, funded by many charities and businesses in that area. It works very effectively and I pay tribute to them. The Member raised many issues there around operational issues around the police and stations. These are operational issues and they’re non-devolved to us; they are a matter for the Home Office and I’m sure the Member will have made representation to the relevant body.

The Llywydd took the Chair.

Male champions are really an important part in terms of dealing with domestic violence and there are many fellow colleagues in this Chamber who champion this very issue. I, again, would encourage them to make a stand where we should do to support this very important process. The police deal with many issues, from school liaison officers to talking to our young people about well-being opportunities. Indeed, they also operate in the control of illegal substances. I think what’s really important here is that we are able to work collectively to ensure that, together, as Welsh Government, UK Government, third sector organisations, and local authorities, we bring a package of opportunities that will help our communities become more resilient, stronger, and safer as we move forward.

I thank the Cabinet Secretary.