POLICING in Wales should be devolved according to a key recommendation by the Commission for Justice in Wales.
The move if implemented would replicate the situation in Scotland and Northern Ireland where policing is no longer in the hands of the Westminster government.
The recommendation follows the recently published comprehensive review of the country’s justice system.
The Justice in Wales for the People of Wales Report – authored by former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd makes 78 recommendations about the future of the justice system in Wales in what it describes as an ‘ambitious plan for the future’.
Also included are other elements for devolving to Wales including the courts, prison and probation services.
Responding to the review’s findings in the Police Federation of England and Wales’ magazine issue December 2019-January 2020, Mark Bleasdale, Welsh Lead for the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW), said: “Lord Thomas and his Commission have whole-heartedly backed a shift of the whole justice system in Wales – including policing – from Westminster to Cardiff.
“The PFEW remains neutral on the matter of devolved policing. However, in our detailed evidential submission to this Policing in Wales ‘should be run by the Welsh Government’ commission, and the Silk Commission before it, we concluded that policing in Wales ‘could be devolved’ but the decision of whether it ‘should be devolved’ is a matter for politicians.”
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