2. What discussions has the Counsel General had with the Ministry of Justice following the resignation of the Victims' Commissioner for England and Wales? OQ58476

Thank you for the question. Victims policy remains the responsibility of the UK Government. As a Government, we are committed to improving outcomes for victims in Wales. We believe that every victim should be treated with dignity and respect, and with access to the services that they need.  

As you well know, many of the services that victims require are actually devolved to Wales and, at the end of June, when I asked the Prif Weinidog whether he was satisfied with the current system, he said that the

'system has so far served us well.'

Well, in the resignation letter of last week by Dame Vera Baird, she complained about a lack of engagement from the very top in the Ministry of Justice. She complained about the priorities of the Westminster Government. She went on to say:

'It is no exaggeration to say that the criminal justice system is in chaos.'

Does the Welsh Government still believe that victims here in Wales are well served by having a victims' commissioner that is answerable and accountable to a Whitehall that doesn't listen? 

Thank you for the question. I'm aware of the letter that the victims' commissioner, Dame Vera Baird, recently sent. Can I just mention just a couple of points? I think the first one is, in terms of my colleague, the Minister for Social Justice, I know that she had met with Dame Vera Baird on a number of occasions to talk about the issues relating to victims, and also with other bodies. I think what is the case is, in the devolved areas, I think there is an enormous amount of very positive and constructive work that goes on within our devolved responsibilities for victims and for the support of victims, and the work that we do we try to do in actual partnership.

But can I just say that the letter from Dame Vera Baird does raise a number of very serious issues? And I think they really relate to those reserved areas of justice that relate to victims where I think it is clear that there has been failure, and increasing failure. There had been promises, in terms of a victims Bill, which may have positive elements to it, but it's very, very early days on that; I think it is in draft form at the moment, but due to be tabled in the not too distant future. We'll obviously look at that very, very closely. So, we will continue with those areas where we have devolved input, and there are many areas. Many of the functions are reserved, but, of course, the consequences come within devolved capacities, and those are the ones that I know the Minister for Social Justice and others have been working very, very closely on. But it is worth listening to what she said. She did say that the victims Bill remains inadequate; she also referred to the British bill of rights, which has been stayed—it has been delayed, not taken away; and she raised serious concerns about the logjams in the justice system.

But, in particular, what she actually does say is that she considers that at the UK Government level there has been a downgrading of focus on the issue of victims. She says that

'the criminal justice system is in chaos.'

The downgrading of victims’ interests in governmental priorities, along with the sidelining of the victims’ commissioner, are particular areas of critique, and those are areas that we would want to see addressed—areas that we'd want to see addressed differently in a devolved justice system.

In terms of where we go from here, we will, of course, work and liaise with the UK Government in respect of the victims Bill. We will particularly focus on those areas that are not reserved and what the impact might be on those. We remain, as a Government, really committed to improving outcomes for victims and to the full exercise of our devolved responsibilities, but also to greater responsibility in terms of support for victims.