Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Social Justice – in the Senedd at 2:13 pm on 16 March 2022.
Diolch yn fawr, Weinidog. Data just released under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to Dr Robert Jones of the Wales Governance Centre showed that there has been an increase in the average number of Welsh women in prison between 2020 and 2021—gone up from 208 to 218. It also shows that women from north Wales are being held in the prison estate right across England, far away from their support network. Despite the announcement, nearly two years ago in early May 2020, of a residential centre in Wales, as far as I'm aware we still haven't got a site, we still haven't got an open date, and we still don't know what the legal status of that residential centre will be. In the meantime, Minister, as you well know, women are suffering in Wales, and this is not a good advertisement of partnership working between the Welsh Government and Ministry of Justice. We need to move on with this. When will the centre open, Minister? What will its status be? And how can we ensure that women across Wales, wherever they are from, will have equal status? Diolch yn fawr.