Community Safety

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Social Justice – in the Senedd at 1:59 pm on 1 March 2023.

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Photo of Jane Hutt Jane Hutt Labour 1:59, 1 March 2023

Well, I am proud of the achievements and indeed the manifesto commitments of this Welsh Labour party, which led to us committing funding to maintain our 500 police community support officers and increasing their number by 100. I know that the work that we've done and the work that we're doing indeed, even though policing isn't devolved yet, with our neighbourhood policing teams, with our PCSOs, is playing a critical role in helping to keep communities safe. Of course, this is about prevention, isn't it? This is about engaging with our communities and, yes, having to recognise that we need to tackle issues around anti-social behaviour, but on the basis of a preventative approach and community cohesion. I do also want to say that we share, of course, with colleagues across the UK and show partnership working with police on these issues, particularly in terms of working on our youth justice board. We're very much looking forward to the devolution of youth justice, which is crucial to this point, as well as our work on tackling violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence. That's what we're focusing on here in Wales.