2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:18 pm on 7 February 2023.

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Photo of Jenny Rathbone Jenny Rathbone Labour 2:18, 7 February 2023

His Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons published a very troubling report on Friday about its unannounced inspection of Eastwood Park prison. That inspection took place in October, and the conditions described by the inspectorate make for very difficult reading: bloodstains on the wall, extreme mental distress, including spiralling incidents of self-harm, which well-meaning but poorly trained staff were not equipped to deal with. As this is the main prison where south Wales women are being incarcerated, I'd like to request a statement from the Minister for Social Justice to find out at what point was she informed of these conditions and what has been done in these last three months to improve the desperate situation for women who are acutely unwell and yet being incarcerated on very short sentences in really awful conditions.