Commenting on its 'Delivering Justice for Wales' report yesterday, the Welsh Government described

'a distinct Welsh justice policy based on prevention through tackling social challenges and rehabilitation' and contrasted this with 'a more punitive approach' by the UK Government—a theme continued in the statement we've just heard, but didn't receive in advance. Why have you claimed this when the UK Government has stated repeatedly that it favours a policy based on prevention through tackling social challenges and rehabilitation? How do you respond to the UK Ministry of Justice's new 'Prisons Strategy White Paper' to rehabilitate offenders and cut crime, published in December? How has the Welsh Government engaged with the UK Ministry of Justice's victim strategy to align support for victims with the changing nature of crime? 

The UK Government published a female offender strategy to divert vulnerable female offenders away from short prison sentences wherever possible, invest in community services and establish five pilot residential women's centres, including one in Wales. Last week, as you've indicated, the Minister for Social Justice here wrote to Members stating that she has been working closely with the UK Ministry of Justice, and announcing that one of these centres would be near Swansea in south Wales, presumably because of her input. How will this help vulnerable women offenders in north, mid and west Wales to access the services they need closer to home? 

Last week, the UK Ministry of Justice announced its turnaround scheme, with £300 million over the next three years to support every council across Wales and England in catching and preventing youth offending earlier than ever, helping to stop these children and teenagers from moving on to further, more serious offending. How will the Welsh Government engage positively with this?

Of course the UK Government recognises that devolution has altered the legislative and policy context to policing and criminal justice in Wales, and has established a form of administrative devolution through Welsh offices, units or directorates based upon co-operation, on joint working, including HM Prison and Probation Service in Wales, Youth Justice Board Cymru and HM Courts and Tribunals Service Wales. So, how do you engage positively with these in pursuit of common agendas? It's clear from your statement that your colleague, certainly the social justice Minister, and, I presume, yourself are doing so.

Commenting yesterday, the Welsh Government stated that by joining up the justice system with the rest of Welsh policy making, we can find truly effective ways of reducing crime. However, what confidence can we have that alignment of policies and decisions about justice with this Welsh Government's devolved policy agenda will improve matters, when Wales has the highest proportion of children in the UK in care, and one of the highest proportions of children looked after by any state in the world? Public order crime in Wales is 132 per cent of the England and Wales figure—the highest rate out of eight regions; violent crime in Wales 106 per cent of the England and Wales figure, also the highest rate out of eight regions; Office for National Statistics figures to last June showed that north Wales had one of the highest rates of violence against the person and sexual offences per 1,000 people in the UK; a poll of 2,000 adults across 15 major UK cities found last September that Cardiff is the UK's most dangerous city where locals feel least safe; and the Wales Governance Centre reported in 2019 that Wales has the highest rate of imprisonment in western Europe, and although the total number of prison sentences rose in Wales between 2010 and 2017, they fell by 16 per cent in England. The report's author stated that wider research is needed to try to explain Wales's high rate of imprisonment. Is it therefore not the case that such a difference in delivery within what is a shared criminal justice system shows why the calls for devolution of criminal justice should not be answered?

Commenting yesterday, the Welsh Government stated that devolution must happen so all this money can be reinvested in meeting Wales's urgent needs. In reality, creating separate jurisdictions for Wales and for England would be unjustifiably costly and lead to significant duplication of functions. Why have you therefore conveniently ignored the Silk commission estimate that the devolution of policing and justice would cost a whopping £100 million a year? Instead, how do you respond to the statement at last October's Legal Wales conference by Lord Wolfson—and you did refer to him in your statement—then a UK justice Minister, and, as you indicated, no longer in that position? He said:

'we are aligned in our desire to continue to improve the way justice is delivered in Wales.'

The Ministry of Justice has also been examining the Thomas commission on justice report to see what can be taken forward to improve justice in Wales, and indeed is already undertaking work in relation to some of the commission's recommendations. He added that being part of the England and Wales jurisdiction has undeniably benefited Wales, making it a popular place to do business internationally. Noting your comments that, apparently, communication has broken down, how do you respond to the statement by a Ministry of Justice spokesperson only yesterday that:

'We are continuing to work closely with the Welsh Government to deliver justice in Wales, including the joint work on supporting women and young people, and taking forward some of the recommendations of the Thomas Commission'?

To conclude, given that senior police officers told me during my visit to the north-west regional organised crime unit that: all north Wales emergency planning is done with north-west England; 95 per cent or more of crime in north Wales is local or operates on a cross-border east-west basis; North Wales Police have no significant operations working on an all-Wales basis; and that evidence given to the Thomas commission by the chief constables and police and crime commissioners in Wales then was largely ignored in the commission's report, why do you think that the Thomas commission on justice report only includes a single reference to any cross-border criminality in the context of county lines, and that the solution it proposes is joint working across the four Welsh forces in collaboration with other agencies, but no reference to partners across the border, with whom most of the work is actually being done?