1. What legal advice has the Counsel General provided to the Welsh Government on the devolution of policing and justice? OQ61323

Thank you for your question. We continue to support the devolution of policing and justice to Wales, as recommended by the numerous independent commissions over the years, including most recently by the constitutional commission.

Thank you for that response. Well, as the Counsel General has mentioned, the devolution of policing and justice was a commitment by the Labour Party, and it was in the manifesto of the Labour Party back in 2021. The Counsel General, the former First Minister and others have spoken very powerfully and robustly in favour of devolving policing and justice several times, but according to the Shadow Welsh Secretary, Jo Stevens, the devolution of policing and justice isn't one of the priorities. Indeed, she mentioned it as being 'fiddling on the margins'. Does the Counsel General therefore believe that what they're trying to do as a Government is a waste of time, or does he truly believe that the devolution of policing and justice is something that will be seen here in Wales?

Well, thank you for the question. Pursuing the case for the devolution of justice as a whole is still a priority of this Government, as are the recommendations that have been accepted from the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales, as is the approach that is recommended, which is a transitional approach over a number of years in order to achieve these. And of course, one of the priorities, and one of the ones I am particularly focused on is in respect of the devolution of youth justice and probation. Policing, I believe, does follow on from that, and I think that the devolution of policing is, in due course, an inevitability. 

I heard, of course, the comments that have been made. These comments are often made during the course of general elections, and they're made sometimes without the benefit that I think we all now have of, for example, the review that was led by Carl Foulkes, the former chief constable of north Wales. What I'm very keen on is the opportunity that we now have that there will be engagement in a whole range of areas that is only possible with a change of Government, with an incoming Labour Government. And I am fairly certain that, once the evidential base that we have amassed over the years, once the research that we've carried out becomes more generally known, more commonly understood and so on, as we discuss the devolution of youth justice and probation, I believe the door will be opened in respect of the devolution of policing. 

Can I say that policing is, perhaps, on that area of priority after youth justice and probation mainly because we have achieved so much? My colleague the former Minister for Social Justice and I did a lot of work in terms of the development of the policing partnership. In many ways, a lot of policing already operates as though it is, in fact, devolved. And, of course, the work with the police and crime commissioners has been significant, and they were all supportive of this. So, this is an ongoing debate, it's a debate I believe will be pushing in the right direction, and I'm confident that, over time, policing, again, will be naturally seen to be part of that natural devolution.