4. Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Public Services: Working Together for Safer Communities

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:40 pm on 12 December 2017.

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Photo of Alun Davies Alun Davies Labour 3:40, 12 December 2017

I'm grateful to the Conservative spokesperson for his remarks. I will say at the outset that this is the first opportunity that I've had as Cabinet Secretary to outline my approach and the Government's approach to this area since the statements were made and those commitments undertaken. So, I will, with your patience, Deputy Presiding Officer, seek to outline the approach that I would like to take in delivering on the commitments made by our friend Carl Sargeant. 

I felt at the time, and I do now, that Carl's foresight in establishing a group to look at those long-term issues is now beginning to bear fruit. I think the work of the oversight group over the last year has been demonstrated in the production of a report today, but also in the way that it is taken forward. The criticisms made in the auditor general's report, but also the wider analysis that underpinned those criticisms, I recognise and I welcome the report of the auditor general in shining a light, if you like, on these issues and the way in which he argued for a significant change in the way that we deliver community safety in Wales. I hope that the work of the oversight group and the work that's been undertaken will continue to be undertaken over the coming months in delivering on the vision outlined in the report, which is one that will deliver on both the strategic planning but also on the delivery of those longer term visions. 

And I will answer directly the question he asked me on third sector bodies. We do certainly see and appreciate the value of the third sector, both in delivering the strategy, but also managing and reviewing that strategy as well. We want the third sector to be fully a part of both the development, management and delivery of the overall programme.

In terms of some of the wider issues that the Conservative spokesperson raises, I will say to him that whilst we would probably disagree on some aspects of these different policy imperatives, I hope that we would agree that this is one area where the devolution settlement is most broken. I don't for a moment disagree with the challenges that he's placed upon the record this afternoon, and his challenge to me as a Minister, but I will say to him that many of the issues that we face in terms of community safety and the wider aspects of justice policy are made more difficult, and are more difficult in Wales than in any other part of the United Kingdom, because we do not have the tools available to bring together devolved and non-devolved areas and functions to deliver a holistic and comprehensive response to those challenges. And it is a matter for the United Kingdom Government to demonstrate that their vision for a devolution settlement, which is not supported by the majority in this Chamber or, I believe, a majority in this country, is one that is sustainable, robust and coherent. It is my concern that the current settlement is neither coherent, sustainable nor robust, and it is at this point of policy that it is at its most broken. It would therefore be, I think, an imperative for all of us to demonstrate that we will work within the settlement to deliver at present, but he must recognise as well that it is the failure of the United Kingdom Government to resource the police and also to provide for a constitutional settlement for this country that enables a holistic a broad-ranging and wide-ranging response to the challenges he rightly outlines in his contribution that lies at the heart of many of the issues we're seeking to resolve.