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.