Part of 2. Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution – in the Senedd at 3:04 pm on 24 November 2021.
Thank you, and thank you for those comments. The answer to that is 'yes'. There are a number of pilots that are in operation and problem-solving courts are a particular issue as well. As someone personally who's been very involved in the childcare area, I very much welcome those changes that have been taking place. I have visited myself some of the courts to look at these. I've also had discussions with a number of members of the judiciary about how that operates, and about the support that is ongoing. I liaise also very, very closely with my colleague the Minister for Social Justice, who also is carrying out considerable areas of work in this particular area. I think some of these pilots are really important. They are also one of the areas where we are working with UK Government and with the Ministry of Justice in terms of how to develop them and how to do the best we can to actually ensure that more and more children are actually kept with their mothers, and fewer are taken into care. You raise the anomalies that exist, and of course it's an issue that has been raised by Lord Thomas, who raised it recently, I think, in the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee, and also about the need to look, I think, overall within Wales at the data, the statistics that exist, to see why there are variations and what can be done to actually resolve those and deal with what is a very, very significant social issue. I think the remainder of the question really needs to be addressed to the appropriate portfolio Member.