3. What plans does the Welsh Government have to tackle domestic violence? OAQ51607

We continue to implement our national strategy, which sets out our action to tackle domestic violence. Survivors’ voices are absolutely at the forefront of our work. In recognition of this, a national survivor engagement framework is currently being developed.

I thank the leader of the house for that response, and I very much welcome the announcement earlier this month of the appointment of two new part-time national advisers on domestic violence. I'm sure they will bring a wealth of experience to this job, but, of course, there has been a six-month hiatus and they'll have a big task now in pushing through the legislation.

I know that the UK Government's forthcoming domestic violence Bill is planning to have a domestic violence and abuse commissioner, and I wondered whether you saw there being any liaison between our advisers and the new commissioner when appointed.

I very much join Julie Morgan in warmly welcoming the recent appointment of our new national advisers, Yasmin Khan and Nazir Afzal. I really think we've done very well in securing the services of two such excellent people. They are, between them, full-time, not two part-time people, so it's a job share, which I'm very happy about as well. In fact, the previous adviser, Rhian—her contract didn't end until October, so it's been a three-month gap between her going out of office and this, and that three months has been taken up in organising the appointment of the new advisers and making sure that the job share arrangements can work. So, I'm very pleased with that. I think we're very happy in Wales that we've got two such excellent prominent advisers in place. They're very happy to work together to determine priorities and approaches to the role, drawing, obviously, on their own individual strengths and experiences, which is why we're so delighted to have them. They will be working with the Home Office to discuss the proposals for the new UK commissioner role, and we'll aim to influence the developments in the UK to reflect the Welsh context, because I think it's fair to say that we are ahead of that game here in Wales and we're very anxious to make sure that the rest of the UK takes advantage of our experience.

Leader of the house, domestic violence is one of the most abhorrent things one could think of. I'm lucky enough to represent the region of South Wales Central, which is most probably one of the most ethnically diverse areas of Wales. For some families, neither English nor Welsh is the first language, and the translation service is vitally important to give confidence for people to come forward and actually report domestic violence and seek sanctuary from the abuse that they are being put under. Have you had a chance, in the very recent appointment that you've been put into, to make an assessment of what translation services are available for individuals who might find themselves on the receiving end of domestic violence, where English or Welsh is not their first language, and language might well prove a barrier to them getting out of that situation?

Andrew R.T. Davies raises an extremely important point. I have not yet had any extensive discussions on that. I've had a lot of discussions about English for speakers of other languages courses, and making sure that people who come to live here in Wales have access to English as a second language tuition.

It is on my agenda to have that conversation. I'm very aware, as well, because I represent the centre of Swansea—so, a very similar ethnic make-up—and this will be of resonance to those of us who come from Wales, that we have a large number of people in Wales who speak the secondary language of their country and not the primary language. So, we have a particular issue in the translation services around making sure that people who don't speak the primary language of their country but actually speak a secondary language also are served by that. I'm having quite an involved conversation with various people in my own constituency about how we might best serve that, and I plan to bring some of those experiences to this role when I have those conversations, which I'm due to have shortly.