8. Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Public Services: Towards a Distinct Approach to the Penal System in Wales

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:13 pm on 11 December 2018.

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Photo of Alun Davies Alun Davies Labour 5:13, 11 December 2018

Deputy Presiding Officer, let me answer the final question first. The answer is 'yes'. The answer is 'yes'. I would invite the Member for the Rhondda to seek a consensus and to seek opportunities to work together rather than to look for divisions between us. I believe that we have a real opportunity here. The Member outlined very well a number of critical reports about the prison service and the conditions in prisons in Wales, and I recognise the points that she makes. But I would say to her as well that we are more powerful where we seek agreement than where we seek disagreement, and I would say to her that the evidence—[Interruption.]—the evidence—[Interruption.]—the evidence that I've given to the Thomas commission, and I'm very happy for it to be made public in due course, was very much about how we deliver a devolved justice system in Wales but also how we deliver a different system of justice in Wales.

She has asked me to confirm that we do not support the development of any new prison in Wales. Let me say this: we do not support and we will not support the building or the creation or the development of a prison for women in Wales. I've already outlined that we want to see different centres and different facilities for women in the criminal justice system. But we do need investment in the secure estate in the male adult estate, because the conditions in some of our prisons—as she has described herself—for male adult prisoners is simply unacceptable, and we do need to look at how we develop that and how we invest in the secure estate to have an estate that is fit for purpose in the twenty-first century. And let me say this: there can be nobody—there can be nobody—who would seriously argue that the secure estate, in its entirety that we have in Wales, was in any way designed and developed to serve the people of Wales. Up until 18 months ago, we had no facility outside of the M4 corridor. Up until today, we still have no facilities for women and the only youth offending institution is contained within the adult prison in Parc. None of those areas are sufficient, and none of those areas are areas where I am content with the infrastructure and the estate. So, I want to see investment in the whole of that estate to do things differently, to do things differently in the future than what we've seen in the past, and I think there is general agreement with the direction of travel with the probation service.

Again, I'm asked, 'How will we deliver this?', 'How will we work in order to deliver a different probation service?' We will work with the Ministry of Justice and we will work with the Home Office in order to ensure that we have the approach from both policing and within the secure estate to deliver our objectives. It isn't sufficient—it isn't sufficient—simply to deliver a lecture on the constitution whilst people in the system are suffering. And I won't do that. I won't do that. I won't simply say that the current system, the structures, the constitution, are inadequate and leave it at that. I will roll up my sleeves and do everything I can to invest in the future of the people who are currently within the criminal justice system, and that, I believe, is what the people of Wales will want us to do.

But the questions you ask go further than that, and I accept that we do need a different and a more holistic approach. We do need to look at how we deal with substance misuse within the criminal justice system. I would go further than the Member suggested, in fact, because I believe we also need to look at how we deal with wider mental health issues within the criminal justice system. I believe that we do need to deliver targeted support for people. We need to look at how we deliver housing for people who are leaving the criminal justice system, who are leaving the secure estate. We need to look harder at how we deliver training, how we deliver education. We need to look harder at how we deliver a pathway out of criminal justice, out of offending for people. And what these blueprints do is to start that journey and to establish the framework, the principles, that will guide us on that journey.