Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:48 pm on 12 June 2018.
Thank you for clarifying that, First Minister. As you've rightly said, we have no women's prison in Wales and not a single category A prison. In fact, the prisons are severely overcrowded in Wales. Wales has 4,747 prisoners and only, across the five prisons, has an operational capacity of 3,700. So, a large number of Welsh prisoners are incarcerated in prisons hundreds of miles from home. This is believed to be a significant factor in self-harm and suicide. In your Government's submission to the commission on justice, you appear to be making the case for prisons to be devolved. Is this the case? If so, would a Welsh Government support building new prisons in Wales to relieve the overcrowding and the safety issue regarding staff, the self-harm of prisoners, and to house prisoners closer to home in relation to rehabilitation?