5. What steps is the Welsh Government taking to reduce reoffending rates? OAQ52336

The Welsh Government and Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service in Wales have worked together to develop a joint framework to support positive change for those at risk of offending in Wales.

Virtually every piece of research that has looked at the size of prisons has shown that smaller prisons have better outcomes for prisoners and communities as compared to large prisons, and superprisons, particularly. So, if you are serious about reducing the levels of reoffending, then would you commit, if and when these issues are devolved, to plough a new furrow in Wales and to move away from this model and ensure that we don’t see more superprisons being developed here in Wales?

Yes, we will. I think we must reconsider both the justice and the courts systems in Wales, and especially, of course, the prisons and the institutions for young offenders. So, this is something that we’re considering at present, because if we’re going to see the devolution of the justice system, then we must have a policy. But there's no point having a policy once devolution takes place; you have to have one beforehand, and this is something that we, as Government, have foreseen and I know that this is something that the Minister is considering and developing at present.

First Minister, I'm sure you would agree with me, key to low reoffending rates is training prior to release. I recently opened a very successful jobs fair at Prescoed open prison in my constituency—it was hosted partially by Careers Wales—where ex-offenders had the opportunity to meet with employers, both local and from further afield, to see how they could best apply valuable skills that they picked up whilst in prison. I thought that this was a very worthwhile scheme. Prescoed has an excellent record of rehabilitation. Can you tell us—whilst I appreciate that prisons aren't devolved—what the Welsh Government is doing to support organisations like Careers Wales, so that ex-offenders, whilst they are in prison, do get that valuable opportunity to retrain so that upon release they can reintegrate with society and give society back those skills that they picked up in prison?

Well, youth offending teams have played a significant role in reducing reoffending amongst young people. They've looked to support prevention, early intervention and diversion. As someone with significant experience in representing young people at the sharp end in the courts, what I would find is, yes, they can quite often get released from a young offenders' institution, having had training, but they fall back into the same peer group and into the same habits. So, yes, training is hugely important—I very much welcome what's been done at Prescoed—but also, of course, those teams will know that it's hugely important to move people away from a peer group that might have got them into trouble in the first place, and often away from drugs as well, because the rate of reoffending with people who have abused drugs is enormously high. So, I think it's a holistic approach that's needed, but what he's described as happening in his own constituency is a hugely important part of that approach.