Will the Counsel General provide an update on Welsh Government plans for the devolution of justice?
Pursuing the case for the devolution of justice and policing to Wales remains an important commitment within our Programme for Government.
It is therefore a continuing disappointment that the UK Government has rejected the Thomas Commission’s central recommendation to devolve the operation of the justice system to Wales. I will continue to make the case for devolving justice and policing, and work with stakeholders to explore how best to achieve it.
We have, however, commenced discussions with the UK Government on the range of other topics raised within the Thomas Commission report. The Minister for Social Justice and I have agreed to have regular discussions with Lord Wolfson going forward. I hope these will identify clear areas of priority for both governments with a view to swift and joint implementation of improvements where possible.
In particular, we hope the discussions will engage with the particularly strong case for devolution of areas of the justice system which work most directly and continually with devolved services, such as the youth justice system.
Alongside those discussions with the UK Government, we will continue to pursue existing programmes of partnership working. We are working with Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service, the Home Office and the Police and Crime Commissioners on the Youth Justice and Female Offending Blueprints, including the establishment of a Residential Women’s Centre in Wales and the development of a new delivery model for the Welsh secure estate for justice and looked after children.
We also continue to deliver on areas within our current devolved competence, for example, taking forward the recommendations of the Law Commission’s report on tribunals.
We will be bringing forward a publication in the spring which will set out our current and planned justice-related activity across the Welsh Government, in light of the recommendations of the Thomas Commission but also developments since then, such as the experience of the pandemic response and the report of the Law Commission.