, Plenary
Statement by the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution: Priorities for Government Effectiveness and Constitution
Diolch. We will be updating the Senedd in terms of the COVID review in due course. As you'll be aware, there is the UK COVID inquiry, which is an enormous piece of work. What I am keen to do is to understand fully which aspects that inquiry has focused on in…
, Plenary
Statement by the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution: Priorities for Government Effectiveness and Constitution
Diolch yn fawr. The case for devolution of justice and policing has been made powerfully and independently by the Thomas commission, the Silk commission, and the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales, so that Wales could be in the same…
, Plenary
Statement by the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution: Priorities for Government Effectiveness and Constitution
Thank you for those questions and comments. I think you do a disservice to members of the independent commission. I don't know how much time you've spent with the former archbishop, Rowan Williams, but the suggestion that he would come to a view because he…
, Plenary
Statement by the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution: Priorities for Government Effectiveness and Constitution
I thank the spokesperson. While the previous contribution, I'm not sure, didn't ask any questions, I think that the spokesperson managed to ask dozens of questions there, and so I'll do my best to do justice to those. To start with whether we need new plans…
, Plenary
Statement by the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution: Priorities for Government Effectiveness and Constitution
The Member can at least be assured that there was a significant chunk of my priorities set out there, which was about precisely better government and doing things differently, because the previous Government did not operate in that way, and we have made…
, Plenary
Statement by the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution: Priorities for Government Effectiveness and Constitution
Dirprwy Lywydd, my approach is clear: priorities translated into measurable outcomes, driven from the centre, delivered through our public services and judged by results that people can see in their everyday lives, and grounded in a clear set of principles, a…
, Plenary
Statement by the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution: Priorities for Government Effectiveness and Constitution
Thank you very much, Dirprwy Lywydd. By the end of this Senedd, we'll all be able to repeat that very long title. I'm very pleased to be here today to set out my priorities for this Government term. Trust and confidence in Government is hard-earned but easily…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution
I can wholeheartedly agree with that. In principle, and on principle, policing should be devolved to Wales. The current reforms offer an excellent opportunity. As I mentioned in a previous answer, I have already met with colleagues at the Home Office. The…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution
This Government’s position is clear and unequivocal: justice, including policing, should be fully devolved to Wales, as it is in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The policing reforms in England are an excellent opportunity to progress the devolution of policing.
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution
I thank the Member for the question, and I have some sympathy for the points he makes. If we are to be successful, our Government must deliver on outcomes not on activities, because, if we deliver on outcomes, they will be felt and measurable to the people of…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution
The Government is united in its vision for Wales. That starts with our 100-day plan, which I am working collaboratively and co-operatively with all my Cabinet colleagues to deliver. The programme for government will build upon this foundation, with clarity of…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution
Diolch. Thank you for the question, and I pay tribute to the Member's long-standing service on our behalf, keeping everyone safe. I think there is an important discussion around probation, around prisons, around justice that we need to have, that we need to…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution
Our assessment is the exact points that the Member refers to there. Devolution would allow us to adopt a whole-system approach, embedding a consistent set of values led by evidence and trauma across all services. It would enable us to bring justice and…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution
This Government’s position is clear: justice should be fully devolved to Wales, as it is in Scotland and Northern Ireland. In the coming weeks, I’ll be meeting with UK Government Ministers to set out our position and to start those discussions. We will pursue…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution
Thank you for the question. I'm not wholly sure, Llywydd, how that relates to public service reform. However, I will make this commitment quite clearly, as my colleagues have already made: the Welsh Government will follow the law and will uphold the law in…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution
Supporting public services to tangibly improve people's lives is at the forefront of this Government's agenda. It is this principle that will guide us in any requests for new powers, as I've outlined already to some of your colleagues. Taking a one Welsh…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution
Thank you very much to the Member. There are a number of issues there in terms of services for women that are currently not good enough under the current justice system. I do think that there is work to be done in terms of the justice system and devolution…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution
I thank the Member for his support for devolving policing, and he has set out previously in this Chamber and elsewhere the case for devolution. Policing, of course, is not only, as he reminds us, devolved to Scotland and Northern Ireland, but also to a number…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution
Okay. So, I shall repeat again: our priorities are the NHS, are schools, are the economy, are child poverty and childcare. Llywydd, I think it'll be a very long four years if we carry on like this. However, the Member has highlighted one important area where…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution
Devolving policing has been the recommendation of a series of independent commissions, dating back to the Silk commission in 2014. Each one of those commissions considered the financial implications amongst other implications in reaching their conclusions.
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution
I thank the Member for his congratulations and for the question. I think we've rehearsed several times the interplay between constitutional powers and priorities of the Government already in this question time; I suspect we might rehearse them a few more…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution
Well, thank you for a range of questions there. If we could start with building on the work that's been done in the past, I was fortunate to meet with the former archbishop, Rowan Williams, over recent days, and I will be meeting Laura McAllister in the…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution
A new national commission is being developed as part of our 100-day plan. It will oversee progress on further devolution, engage with the public in a national conversation about Wales's constitutional future, and strengthen the evidence base for further…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution
I can assure the Member that there is plenty of energy to go around in this Plaid Cymru Government and Plaid Cymru Cabinet. I'm not sure whether I was clear enough, but I shall repeat myself again: our priority is delivering tangible improvements to people's…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution
I welcome him to his role and thank him for his congratulations. For me, and for us, the test of this Government will be how we deliver on those bread-and-butter issues, if you'd like to describe them as such, on childcare, on child poverty and the issues…
