Part of 3. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport – in the Senedd at 3:01 pm on 1 March 2017.
I thank the Member for the comments. I think we need to be clear about what we’re talking about, because there’s a challenge of whether people continue to see a police cell as a place of safety, and that is not the view this Government takes, or the police force, or the health service. There’s actually much improved work that’s been undertaken between NHS Wales and police forces across the country, and I’m pleased to see there’s been a significant reduction in people inappropriately placed. We’re now down into very, very small figures. There’s still further improvement to go, but it really does depend on the categorisation that the Member uses, and whether or not these are people who are partly in the criminal justice system appropriately or are people with mental health problems who are being misplaced and not in the appropriate care for their actual care needs themselves.