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Written evidence submitted by the Police and Crime Commissioner for South Wales

In looking forward to our opportunity to give evidence to the Welsh Affairs Select Committee next week I thought it might be helpful to try to set out in advance the arguments against creating a single police force for Wales and also provided some information about developments of which members of the Committee may not be aware across Policing and Justice in Wales..

There has been some Media interest in the idea of merger and it has sometimes been associated with the question of whether Ministerial responsibility for policing should be devolved – although there is no necessary or logical connction between those two issues – and the idea can have a certain superficial attraction.

Last time this issue surfaced I wrote an article to spell out why a single police force for Wales should be dismissed out of hand and I have updated that article (attached) and wish to submit it for your consideration and that of the Select Committee. Frankly I was very surprised when Richard Lewis promoted the idea when he came back from Cleveland to Dyfed Powys and I had a vigorous but friendly exchange with him at the time – and it’s worth saying that he is unusual in his view which does not have general support.

The point of my article is to show that it is a concept that would divert energy and undermine a great deal of what is successful in Wales, which is based on cooperation and joint working and not on a “top down” hierarchical approach. Success has been based on joint working, mutual respect and a well-developed sense of community as drivers of effective service.

The second element that I thought would help the Select Committee's preparation for our session is the way in which we have changed the workings of the Criminal Justice system in Wales for the better over recent years.

It’s important to know that the Police & Crime Plan is the key document for Policing – in it the Police & Crime Commissioner sets out his or her expectations on the basis of which the Chief Constable works through the Delivery Plan, although it’s a document that has become increasingly sophisticated and reflects careful joint working and incremental improvements more and more as time goes on.

But it’s also important to note how the four Police & Crime Commissioners in Wales have worked with the Chief Constables to achieve common outcomes and to reflect the fact that we all work in the devolved environment. So whereas Ministerial responsibility for Policing is not devolved the work of policing – especially in relation to prevention and early intervention – depends for effectiveness on working closely and effectively with local government, education, health (especially mental health and substance misuse) as well as on working to common goals on issues like tackling violence against women and girls, domestic violence and abuse and sexual violence, tackling exploitation and tackling racism.

So the joint working in Policing in Wales and the join up with Welsh Government and its agencies - through the Policing Partnership Board for Wales that we set up and invited the First Minister to chair – was then developed further through the Criminal Justice Board for Wales and cooperation between all criminal justice agencies and police forces in Wales.

This has happened partly because of the capacity of Police & Crime Commissioners to bring people together to address common problems in practical ways and partly from the willingness of people in Wales to respond - whether they work in devolved or non-devolved organisations - by working together for the public benefit and to improve the service.

The One-Page Programme that is attached is a succinct summary of an enormous amount of work : it is the tip of a very considerable iceberg but is worth examining in detail as that will show the extent of the ambition that has developed. It builds on our original “Statement of Purpose” which aims to make Criminal Justice delivery in Wales “the most efficient, the most effective and the fairest it can be”.

Two examples show the particular effectiveness with which we have responded to the need for action :

• Covid was an extremely challenging time for policing and justice, made particularly problematic when distancing rules forced the closure of courts. Without the ability to get people before a court justice could not happen and the police were having to support increasing numbers of victims while worrying that some very bad people might be released for lack of a trial. We pulled together an emergency taskforce, meeting weekly, and looked for large buildings that might allow “distanced” trials to take place as “Nightingale Courts” and reopened courts earlier than in any part of England leading the then Lord Chancellor to comment in an open meeting that “you do seem to be better at doing things together in Wales.” Having shown our capacity for getting things done together the Task Force morphed into a “Steering Group for Criminal Justice in Wales” which was consolidated by the Criminal Justice Board for Wales and which continues to meet fortnightly because it is useful. It works closely with the four Local Criminal Justice Boards in Wales and is now supported by four Task Forces for the four priority work areas set out in the attached graphic. We recently held a “Challenge” session on an all- Wales basis at which a variety of significant individuals – from the former Lord Chief Justice and the Secretary of State for Wales to ex-prisoners and victims – were asked to challenge our work.

• Within the priorities for policing and justice, tackling racism has been a difficult and challenging issue – and sometimes a painful issue – but there was a collective will to tackle it head on. This led to a significant programme of work leading to the Anti Racism Action Plan for Criminal Justice in Wales published in September 2022 after considerable engagement with affected communities and people with lived experience which was endorsed by leaders of all criminal justice bodies in Wales as well as by Commissioners and Chief Constables. It has been widely recognised as both practical and ambitious, and was developed in parallel with Welsh Government’s Action Plan. The two Plans were promoted at a single “One Public Service Summit” in Cardiff recognising that racism does not respect the boundaries of devolved or not devolved bodies and we all serve the same public.

As with many aspects of our work effectiveness depends on voluntary commitments and is therefore fragile but the building of trust and confidence has been significant.

I don’t want to swamp you with material but full details of the work that is summarised in the one-page graphic is available if you or any member of the Committee would like more detailed information.

2 November 2023