Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:42 pm on 22 November 2022.
Diolch yn fawr. I'm sure that I will get these questions as a result of recommendations from the committee. Clearly, there should be access to their elected representatives from their home base, their home town. I’m sure that, as constituency Members, many of you have represented—. But the women need to know who they are. So, I think that that’s information—that's something that we can take back straight away—in terms of their situations.
I think that the healthcare support and initiatives are crucially important, and we are looking at that. There’s an agreement for a dedicated women’s resource with the new health and justice co-ordinator team. That’s also going to link up with local health boards. There’s already a partnership agreement for prison health.
Also, just to make sure that people understand: I mention the jagged edge again, in terms of the responsibilities between local government and between the Welsh Government and the UK Government, and that we look at those issues in terms of access to health. Indeed, I have mentioned health education, substance misuse. I understand that substance misuse treatments like Buvidal have been available for patients, but we need to identify if this is not happening. It is available outside of prison before it’s prescribed in prison, so we need to ensure that there is a recognition of the needs of Welsh women in prisons. But your feedback from your visit to HMP Eastwood Park is very valuable, and I look forward to visiting myself in due course.