Devolving Policing speech

The case for devolving policing

I am very pleased to open this debate

I also find this type of debate, such as todays and the one on reserved powers last year gives the National assembly an opportunity to show the direction of travel that it wants devolution to take.

In February last year First Minister Carwyn Jones called for powers over policing to be devolved to Wales.

Alun Michael  a former home office minister and currently the police and crime commissioner for South Wales has said

Many of the levers which affect levels of crime have already been devolved to Wales such as community safety, education, training, jobs, mental health services, alcohol and drug treatment, housing, healthy communities as well as many other services relating to social factors.

Tackling crime - reducing offending and reoffending - necessitates working with other public services which already operate on a pan or sub Wales level. For example support for those with mental health conditions both before they reach crisis point and need police intervention, and once they have entered the criminal justice system means working with the Welsh NHS and local Health Boards

 I believe that if policing powers were devolved this would allow for much greater liaison between both services locally and by Ministers and civil servants at a strategic level within Wales, rather than between Wales and Westminster.

I think there is real potential for a successful Welsh model which can build on the strengths of devolution without cutting adrift of being part of the United Kingdom. That’s why I agree with the motion that this should not include the UK National Crime Agency and national security, and I would add the strategic policing requirement and counter terrorism.

It is important that Police Services continue to be able to provide mutual support for large events which we saw an incredibly successful demonstration of during the recent NATO summit in South Wales.

 

Co-operation in policing clearly needs to extend not just to the British Isles, but into Europe and beyond. We know that crime and terrorism cross borders – more so now than ever before and we need co-ordinated measures to make sure that criminals cannot avoid charges by fleeing to Spain or anywhere else as once seemed the case.

The Welsh Government have shown the capacity for leadership and common sense implementing policies developed by Welsh Labour through their investment in 500 additional Community Support Officers which have been invaluable during the harsh period of austerity.

Turning to the proposal

Firstly I want to deal with the two exceptions in the proposal

UK National Crime Agency and national security

Obviously national security needs to be excluded because dealing with spies or terrorists needs to be done on at least a  British basis

The National crime agency is a crime-fighting agency with national and international reach and the mandate and powers to work in partnership with other law enforcement organisations to bring the full weight of the law to bear in cutting serious and organised crime.

The Border Policing Command (BPC) is a vital part of the  approach to increased border security

The Economic Crime Command (ECC) places the NCA at the forefront of the fight against economic crime affecting the UK

The NCCU provides a joined-up national response to cyber and cyber-enabled crime, ensuring that expertise is focused where it can deliver the most impact and add most value.

The CEOP command is dedicated to eradicating the sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children and young people. 

The Organised Crime Command (OCC) leads, supports and co-ordinates the national effort to identify, pursue and disrupt serious and organised criminals.

What this leaves then is the day to day policing carried out by the four Welsh police forces.

The police do not work in isolation, they work closely with the fire service and ambulance service which are both devolved.

Other arguments in favour of devolving policing are the ability to better connect policing with other devolved services such as support for victims of domestic abuse and the health service as mentioned by Alun Michael

 

The Welsh Government’s expansion of Community Support Officers by an additional 500 will further increases their visibility and has had a positive effect on both crime and anti social behaviour. Community Support Officers are now the public face of policing in communities and in many cases they have built up excellent relationships with their local community.

I am aware of both how visible and popular PCSOs are in Swansea East and I would imagine it will be the same across all of Wales.

Many of the older generation will remember when we had Watch Committees responsible for policing in Wales. During most of the 20^th Century policing was a local government function controlled by the Watch Committees of the relevant county, or in the case of Swansea, Cardiff, Merthyr and Newport, the County Borough Council. We then moved from the local Watch Committee to two Police Committees covering the whole of Glamorgan and Gwent with very little control over the local police force.

The replacement of Police Authorities by Police Commissioners is the only major structural change that has taken place in the force since the 1960s. South Wales, Dyfed Powys, North Wales and Gwent have been in their current form, with minor amendments on local government reorganisation in 1996, since the late 1960s

With policing devolved to both Scotland and Northern Ireland it is anomalous that it has not been devolved to Wales.

The Northern Ireland Assembly  in March 2010 voted in favour of the devolution of policing and justice powers from Westminster, despite opposition from the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP).

The vote underpined the Hillsborough Agreement brokered between the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Fein to stabilise the region's power-sharing government.

The Assembly then created a Department of Justice for Northern Ireland after the powers were devolved later that year.

If the Welsh Assembly votes in favour of devolving policing today who thinks we will have it devolved within a few months?

 Looking at continental Europe and North America it is Wales that appears out of step. Across most of the democratic world other than control of national security, and serious crime policing is carried out by the regional or local police forces

Law enforcement in Germany lies with the 16 federal states. Each lays down the organisation and duties of its police. Germany also has a central police force with responsibility for border security, protection of federal buildings and a mobile response force that is able to help out, or reinforce, state police if requested to do so.

Law enforcement in Spain is complicated but can be simplified into the national police such as the civil guard and the national police corp, regional police forces and local or municipal police forces. The national police concentrate on things such as drug enforcement, immigration and border security. The regional police concentrate on protecting buildings and protection of individuals. The local police tend to deal with matters such as traffic offences and the enforcement of local laws.

Policing in the USA consists of federal agencies like the FBI, state agencies such as highway patrol and local policing by county police and sheriff departments. Some county and some sheriff departments provide the full range of police services. In other areas there are boundary lines between the sheriff’s department and the county police.

What all these have in common is that local policing is local and major crime and national security are dealt with at the national level..

What do the Welsh public think

A poll commissioned by the body examining the case for devolving more powers to the Welsh government from Westminster has reported significant public support for moving policing powers for Wales to Cardiff.

The survey, carried out by Beaufort Research for the Silk Commission on Devolution in Wales, found 63 per cent of 2,009 respondents polled between May 21 and June 12 last year were in favour of policing powers for Wales being devolved from central government in England.

Only 35 per cent of those responding said they wanted policing powers to remain within the remit of the UK government, with the report on the survey describing the findings as indicating the Welsh public “clearly favoured” further devolution.

With eight in ten also saying they felt the National Assembly for Wales worked in the best interests of the country and had “given Wales a stronger voice in the UK”, the survey said two in three backed bringing in the devolved powers within five years

I believe that the way forward is to devolve most policing to the National Assembly but keep the UK National Crime Agency and national security services.

Just remember that up until the 1960s the large cities of Britain policed themselves without anyone outside the Home Office having any concerns.

We should get back the right to police ourselves and hand local policing to the Welsh Government.