6. Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: Interim Report of the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:58 pm on 31 January 2023.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Jenny Rathbone Jenny Rathbone Labour 4:58, 31 January 2023

Darren Millar and Tom Giffard make some important points about the level of engagement with the whole population. I think it's really important that we have that conversation, but that we ensure that all parts of the population are involved where possible.

There are three issues that the interim report highlights that are really not working at the moment: policing and justice, rail infrastructure, and welfare. I think the Tories need to pay caution to the fact that there are so many people in our country who are in full-time work and are struggling to eat and heat. That tells you there must be something wrong with our welfare system. We've already rehearsed the problems with the rail infrastructure in First Minister's questions, so I want to raise the issue of policing and justice.

There is an absolute crisis of confidence in the police force across the United Kingdom. Our ability to ensure that the culture within the police is appropriate and not a place where people who should never be policemen can hide is—. We don't have those powers, and that is really worrying. But what's more than that, the way in which we waste money within the criminal justice system, across the United Kingdom, is something that is extremely difficult for us to resolve unless we have the powers. We have an excellent relationship at the moment with people in the Ministry of Justice, who are all working together on this women's justice blueprint, but that can change without anything that the Welsh Government can do about it. If the UK Government suddenly decide that they want to go off on a different path, then all of the good work can just go down the can.

So, I want to understand what the relationship is between the Government and the remit of this commission, because these are serious issues and they need properly investigating. There's really almost nothing in the interim report on the important issue of policing and justice, indeed, nor on the welfare system and how we could run it better, if we had control over its administration, just like they have in the other countries—in Scotland and Northern Ireland. They're able to do it, so we should be able to show that we're able to spend money better and have a more just outcome from it. So, I wonder whether you can just highlight that for us.