I thank the Deputy Minister for her meeting and pre-briefing on these justice blueprints on youth justice and female offending this morning, because when it comes to these issues, as well as wider offending, it is right to focus on early intervention and prevention. As we heard from the Deputy Minister, the Wales Governance Centre's report in January, 'Sentencing and Immediate Custody in Wales: A Factfile', found that Wales has the highest rate of imprisonment in western Europe. It also found that, although the number of prison sentences rose in Wales between 2010 and 2017, they fell 16 per cent in England. I welcome the Deputy Minister's recognition of the importance of working in partnership with the UK Government and the Ministry of Justice to deliver improvements and the collaborative approach to crime and justice. 

When we debated probation service reform here last October, I noted that last August I attended the stakeholder engagement in Wrexham by HM Prison and Probation Service in Wales to discuss future probation services in Wales and the proposals contained in the 'Strengthening probation, building confidence' consultation paper. We heard that the proposals in Wales consulted on are that from 2020 all offender management services will sit with the National Probation Service, and that HM Prison and Probation Service in Wales will explore options for the commissioning of rehabilitative services, such as interventions and community payback.

The Deputy Minister referred to last week's UK Ministry of Justice response to the consultation, on 'Strengthening probation, building confidence', which confirmed that, in the future, the National Probation Service will have responsibility for managing all offenders on a community order or licence following release from prison. It also confirms, as we know, that the Welsh Government has legislative competence in respect of devolved matters, including health, housing, social welfare and education, and this presents a different delivery landscape for probation services in Wales. How, therefore, does the Deputy Minister respond to the statement by the Ministry of Justice in this response that they intend for the provision of additional services and interventions to be put out to tender to enable a range of providers and voluntary sector organisations to compete to deliver them? Very clearly, they have the expertise and connectivity on the ground to deliver that prevention and early intervention.

You state that we need an urgent solution for female offending in Wales, quite rightly. You refer to women currently held in prison in England—around 250. Your refer to the issues associated with being a long way from home facing Welsh women offenders and their families being considerable. But, of course, criminal activity doesn't always recognise national or regional boundaries, and 48 per cent of people in Wales live within 25 miles of the border with England, 90 per cent within 50 miles. And, where I live in north Wales, Styal is only 40 miles away, whereas a women's centre or prison in central or south Wales would be a far greater disconnection from family. So, how better does the Minister consider that we can ensure that the devolved services can reach offenders within Styal prison or other prisons where women offenders from Wales are currently held, alongside the wider reforms, which I support her in seeking?

As you said, the UK Government has rejected community prisons for women, and will instead trial five residential centres to help women offenders with issues such as finding work and drug rehabilitation across England and Wales. The Ministry of Justice is also considering banning short prison sentences in England and Wales. It is recognised these are less effective at cutting reoffending than community penalties.

You referred to last week's report on prison provision in Wales from the Welsh Affairs Committee. How do you respond, given your statement that you think we should have at least one, I think, women's residential centre in Wales, to the call of the Welsh Affairs Committee for women's residential centres to be set up in north and south Wales to enable Welsh offenders to be closer to home? 

You refer to adverse childhood experiences—ACEs. How, again, do you respond to the statement in the Welsh Affairs Committee report that the Ministry of Justice should tackle gang-related problems in Her Majesty's youth offending institution Parc, including a consideration of introducing smaller, custodial units to place younger people closer to home? I mentioned this morning in our meeting Neath young offenders' home, which I visited several years ago as part of a committee inquiry, and when the institution's child psychiatrist told me that a large number of young people who committed offences arrive medicated and it was only when he was able to detox them, get them off the medication, that they could start putting the early intervention and prevention in that had been missed before the crimes were committed. What action do you propose or will you consider to update us on that and establish whether that problem still exists and how we can better ensure that those young people are not simply medicated in future? 

Finally, and going back to the question about commissioning third sector services, again I mentioned this morning an example of a charity that I have taken Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service in Wales to meet during, or shortly after, the consultation event in Wrexham last year, which specifically works with these groups of young people, and which is currently doing great work with Jobcentre Plus in north Wales and was even hosted on their stand at the Royal Welsh Show last year. This was an example of how we can reach out to expertise that does exist within the Welsh community but which is not currently able to deliver the services it seeks to provide in preventing youth offending and supporting young people away from that route in life. Thank you.