Prison Overcrowding

Part of 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip – in the Senedd at 2:51 pm on 18 September 2024.

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Photo of Jenny Rathbone Jenny Rathbone Labour 2:51, 18 September 2024

Thank you, Altaf Hussain, for raising this issue. One of the reasons we want to have devolved criminal justice is in order to prevent more people going into prisons, when there must be alternatives if they break the law. I want to ask you two questions about your conversations with the prisons and probation service head for Wales. One, have you had any discussions about how they could increase the provision of speech and language therapists in youth offending teams following the best practice of Neath Port Talbot, because it’s really important that young people who come into the criminal justice system understand what is going on? And if they genuinely cannot understand it, as they have a learning disability or a particular communication difficulty, we really need to question whether or not they are appropriately placed within youth offending. Equally, they need to be able to understand what the courts have said they must not do. So, that's one issue, and those professionals are really badly needed across Wales. Secondly, what discussions have you had about the release from prison of a lot of prisoners because of the gross overcrowding? What efforts have been made by the Ministry of Justice, working with local authorities, to ensure every prisoner has accommodation to go to because, otherwise, they will simply end up back in prison?