I have declared an interest on this question.

5. Will the First Minister provide an update on the timetable for implementing the recommendations of the Commission on Justice in Wales report? OQ56523

I thank Rhys for the question. 

Where implementation of the commission’s recommendations does not rely on the UK Government, progress has already been made, for example in the creation of a law council of Wales. The Cabinet’s justice committee will be re-established to pursue the case made by the commission for the devolution of policing and justice to Wales.

Thank you for that response, First Minister. I do hope that we will see a more confirmed timetable as to how the Government intends to implement the recommendations relating to the Welsh Government. When I came here as a schoolboy in 1999 to the opening of the Assembly, I would never have imagined that I would be standing in the Welsh Parliament asking this question. We're very grateful to many of that group from 1999—many from all parties who left after the last Senedd—for the firm foundations that they've laid for us. I'm pleased that one of the team of 1999 is driving forward the reform of the Senedd. But it's an important step forward, First Minister, to ensure that justice and policing are devolved to Wales.

I'm very grateful to the Welsh Government for stepping into the breach following swingeing cuts by the Conservative Party in Westminster, and the huge contribution they make to the justice system—up to 40 per cent of expenditure on justice comes from this place. But that creates a problem, a problem that Lord Thomas noted in his report, and that's a problem of scrutiny. There isn't sufficient scrutiny happening in terms of the significant expenditure coming from the Welsh Government. How would you, as a Government, promote further scrutiny on that substantial expenditure that is making a huge impact on the lives of so many people in Wales? Thank you very much. 

Thank you very much to Rhys ab Owen for that first question since he was elected. I'd like to acknowledge as well his specific expertise in this area, following the work that he did to help to put together the Thomas commission report as part of the secretariat. The stance of the Welsh Government is clear. We believe that justice should be devolved. It's not, for us, a matter now of whether that should happen, but how and when it should happen. 

With regard to scrutiny, I've asked the Counsel General to lead on this work. He will chair a sub-committee on the Thomas report, and there will be opportunities for Members to ask him questions about the timetable, about the work that we do within Wales with regard to the recommendations in the report that are in our hands, but also to ask questions about the work that we're going to do to try to draw the UK Government into the conversation on the report—a report that made the case for the devolution of justice so clearly.