Gender-based abuse and prejudice and hatred towards women in our front-line services are totally unacceptable. These are the services that are supposed to protect us and serve the public, and they are therefore supposed to represent the very best principles in our society. So, we cannot permit a service that has such close contact with the public and that has such a safeguarding role to hold such stereotypical, prejudiced and dangerous views about specific groups in our society, especially as there is increasing evidence that people who hold such prejudiced views act upon them too. The public and these specific groups in particular must have faith in these services—as citizens, as colleagues, and as representatives of the values of our society. The fact that the fire service is no longer listed as a White Ribbon supporter organisation on the White Ribbon website is shocking when you really think about it, that our fire service—or one of our fire services—has had to distance itself from a campaign that seeks to eradicate violence against women by men.

Joyce Watson spoke about the concerning cases in Gwent Police recently. In the wake of those cases, does the Deputy Minister believe that, perhaps, there should not just be an inquiry into these specific cases and this specific service, but perhaps that we need a wider ranging inquiry into the culture and processes of our front-line public services? Could the Deputy Minister perhaps please outline how the most recent violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence strategy will help to prevent situations like this from recurring in our public services? And what do you believe is going wrong here?