Cwnsler Cyffredinol, I'd like to congratulate the Welsh Government for producing their vision of what a justice system should look like in Wales. I know that we have in the Minister for Social Justice and in you as Cwnsler Cyffredinol two strong advocates for a better justice system for the people of Wales. However, I have some sympathy with my friend Mark Isherwood for using the same old arguments that we hear him saying every time. Sometimes it's like bingo, isn't it? I was just waiting for them to come out. Because in fairness, it is a very long document, and could I suggest maybe perhaps a little bit too long, Cwnsler Cyffredinol? I was pleased to see that you were inviting comments and engagement from the profession and the public in the document, but can I suggest that perhaps in a document of 161 pages, you probably won't have much engagement from the public, and maybe it doesn't need to be that long? For instance, there's a full page on Flying Start, a 16-year-old programme, in a document about justice; do we really need a document so long?

Personally, I was hoping for more of a blueprint on how do we get there, how do we get justice devolved, and a firm timetable on how to improve those areas that are already devolved. Despite his current anti-devolution rhetoric, we know that Boris Johnson is not actually opposed to devolution. He wanted more powers over the criminal justice system whilst Mayor of London. There's no ideology behind that. We all know if it suits Boris Johnson in the future to have justice devolved, then he'll devolve it straight away, no matter what Mark Isherwood says time and time again. And hopefully, this rediscovery of the Conservatives' Welshness at their recent party conference will go beyond just asking for an additional bank holiday, and will include devolution parity across the United Kingdom. We can only hope, in any event. 

Justice might be devolved quicker than we think. Things might happen very quickly. How ready is the Welsh Government for the devolution of justice? In the report, as I mentioned, there is no suggested timetable for the devolution of justice; it just says this: 

'The process of designing the vision will...be taken forward incrementally.'

Well, what does that mean? How would you like to see justice devolved, Cwnsler Cyffredinol? 

I've had to learn a lot of things in my first year in this place, and I've learnt all these fantastic new words—'optics', for example, meant something completely different to me a year ago, and I had no idea what a 'deep dive' was before coming here. Well, fortunately, those words aren't included in these documents, but we have some other lovely buzzwords in here. We have 'explore' coming up, and 'look' coming up. It doesn't provide a detailed breakdown of when or who will make things happen, but we have 'explore' at least 21 times, 'look' is included 14 times. And a phrase like 'explore radical reform', well, it sounds brilliant, doesn't it, but what does 'explore radical reform' actually mean? How will we get to that radical reform?

Another word that came over often in the document, which caused me some concern, was the word 'partnership'. I know 'partnership' is another buzzword when it comes to Welsh Government; it came up 65 times in this document. And, of course, partnership here means working with Welsh Government, rather than partnership as is usually meant with Welsh Government. But, do we really want to concentrate on partnership with the UK Government? It doesn't go any way to solve the complexity of the justice system. It doesn't solve this jagged edge. Shouldn't we be emphasising instead time and time again that we need justice devolved here, rather than this partnership with the UK Government? 

I congratulate the announcement of the women's centre, but it does concern me that it won't be up and running until at least 2024. It's a five-year pilot only including women in the Swansea area, and I do really hope this will be an alternative to custody—that women that would have been sent to custody are sent there, instead of just being another community order. Another example that you gave about partnership was the much-needed Law Council of Wales. However, I am concerned about the council and I raised it when Lord Lloyd-Jones came in front of our Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee. It receives no funding at all, and it's reliant on very busy volunteers and the generosity of the Law Society. What plans do you have to ensure that the law council can continue its important work? 

And finally, I was disappointed not to see any firm timetable on the implementation of the Law Commission's report into Welsh tribunals. The broad and general recommendations have been known to all of us since December 2020, and I know you agree with me, Cwnsler Cyffredinol, that, through Welsh tribunals, we really do have an opportunity to build a fair and accessible justice system here in Wales. This is within our power and the power of Welsh Government and this place. It's so exciting to be able to create the first appellate system here in Wales for many years. So, when will we see the implementation of the Law Commission's recommendations on Welsh tribunals? Diolch yn fawr.