Misogyny and Sexual Misconduct

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Social Justice – in the Senedd at 2:11 pm on 1 March 2023.

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Photo of Jane Hutt Jane Hutt Labour 2:11, 1 March 2023

Thank you very much, Janet Finch-Saunders. Thank you for raising these points following on from that question from Mabon this afternoon. I think it is really important that North Wales Police have taken the lead. At the board that I co-chaired with police and crime commissioner Dafydd Llywelyn, Amanda Blakeman, who is new to the role, was absolutely clear that she was going to be rigorous about ensuring that her police force was fit for purpose. We welcome that report released by Andy Dunbobbin, the police and crime commissioner, in February, because it looks at the prevalence of cases of misogyny in the force—numbers of cases and investigations, as you say—measures in place to protect the public, and ensuring the correct vetting of officers. 

I am joining Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, who's written to the Home Secretary asking her to urgently push through new laws allowing police chiefs to sack rogue officers on the spot. We know that the Home Office is reviewing dismissal processes because of the failure to remove Carrick as a serving officer. But I agree with Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, that existing laws mean that the Met and other police forces can still employ officers who've committed serious offences, and we need to make that change. I'm sure you will all back me in that call alongside Sadiq Khan.