Part of Questions to the Deputy Minister and Chief Whip – in the Senedd at 2:35 pm on 8 October 2019.
It is, I think, very important that we do engage, as we have responsibilities for, with the devolved services around offenders and the criminal justice system. Of course, I've already mentioned the importance of our responsibilities relating to housing, to health and social care, and welfare, and of course substance misuse comes into that line of responsibilities. It's also very important that we see that the Ministry of Justice is delivering on expectations in terms of their responsibilities, and also in terms of funding.
I'm very pleased that we are now looking towards the reunification of the probation service, on 2 December of this year. The reunification of the probation service is vital in order for us to work together in an integrated way in terms of our services. The privatisation of the probation service was one of the worst policies of the Conservative Government, which did so much harm. But we can now see this reunification in Wales. But I would also expect the Ministry of Justice to deliver on the recommendations of the inspections of prisons. We know that there have been unannounced inspections of prisons, particularly at Berwyn, recently, and we would expect those recommendations to be delivered in terms of non-devolved services, and we will play our part in terms of our responsibilities.