Mark Isherwood
The devolution of policing could compromise cross-border working between police forces, North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has warned this week.
Speaking as Shadow Communities Minister in this week’s Assembly Debate on ‘The Second Report of the Silk Commission on Devolution in Wales’, Mr Isherwood said Welsh Conservatives cannot agree with the Silk Commission that policing should be devolved.
He said: “We cannot agree with the Silk Commission that there will not be substantial additional costs, or that this would fit well with principles of coherence, subsidiarity and accountability. As I said, in February 2006, in the debate on the then proposed Welsh police merger, the police authorities told us that the additional all-Wales annual cost of reorganisation would be up to £57 million, with the Chief Constables saying that it would be even more.
“We believe that the introduction of Police and Crime Commissioners did mark an act of real devolution, empowering local communities to have their say on policing priorities and to hold an elected representative to account. We have not seen any evidence that leads us to support the devolution of policing or criminal justice, and we are concerned that the devolution of policing could compromise cross-border working between police forces.
“When the Assembly’s Social Justice and Regeneration Committee reviewed the structure of policing in 2005, our report noted that criminal activity does not recognise national or regional boundaries, and that cross-border partnerships must reflect operational reality. As I said in the debate on that committee report, almost all of the population of Wales lies along the M4 and A55 corridors, separated by a vast, expansive rural hinterland, geography, history, transport links and very different policing requirements. Some had suggested that the North Wales Police force should combine forces with the north-west of England; however, the only credible option that came from the police authorities called instead for the development of a closer partnership arrangement with Cheshire Constabulary.”
Mr Isherwood also expressed reservations about the devolution of Youth Justice, but said his party will be giving further consideration to the Silk Commission belief that the administrative responsibility for treatment and rehabilitation of young offenders should be devolved.
He said: “The Commission states that the number of young offenders who are sent to secure custody cannot currently be accommodated in Wales, and that there will need to be cross-border management of these offenders between England and Wales. However, that cross-border management is already in existence. The Commission did acknowledge a £0.3 million cost to establishing a separate youth justice system in Wales.”
