, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Experiences in the criminal justice system
We have run out of time. Thank you for agreeing to come back on the few points that you've indicated. In that shopping list of things that you're going to come back on—. There's plenty of work to be done on ensuring that all public services are trauma…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Experiences in the criminal justice system
There's plenty that needs to be done—. Sorry, Jane, go ahead. Go ahead, Jane.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Experiences in the criminal justice system
Jane Dodds wanted to just come back in. Jane.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Experiences in the criminal justice system
I think, just finally, I want to follow up on the—. I think at least twice you've used the words 'should be provided', and a lot of this depends on who is supporting that young person. The team around the child—some of them are more assiduous than others…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Experiences in the criminal justice system
Thank you for that clarification. Can I bring in Ken Skates now?
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Experiences in the criminal justice system
Okay. Can I just quickly ask what involvement would you expect your magistrates to have with the Children's Commissioner for Wales, obviously whose job it is to articulate the wishes and needs of children in Wales?
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Experiences in the criminal justice system
Okay. Perhaps you could write to us about the disparity between those two areas. That would be useful. Moving on now, Jane Dodds, would you like to come in on our second area of interest, which is communication and language difficulties with young people?
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Experiences in the criminal justice system
Before we move on to focus on speech and language difficulties for young people, and their involvement in the criminal justice system, I just wanted to pick up on the issue of consistency in sentencing. When you look at the Prison Reform Trust statistics on…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Experiences in the criminal justice system
Thank you very much. Can I bring in Sarah Murphy now?
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Experiences in the criminal justice system
Fine. Okay. Thank you very much. Back to you, Sioned.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Experiences in the criminal justice system
Okay. So, what impact do you think these pilots have made, from your observations?
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Experiences in the criminal justice system
So, are you saying that these pilots, the 12-month pilots that have been instituted by HM Prison and Probation Service, which include Swansea and Cardiff, that there have been no additional resources provided to focus on these particular pilots?
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Experiences in the criminal justice system
You mentioned the variability of the quality in the pre-sentence reports. You're presumably able to push back on—. You presumably can have discussions with the Probation Service if there are consistently poor reports being provided to the courts, and you can…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Experiences in the criminal justice system
Okay. I just wanted to come back to pre-sentencing reports, which you mentioned in your initial comments. Under what circumstances would a magistrate sentence a woman without having a pre-sentence report?
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Experiences in the criminal justice system
Okay, thank you. Sioned, back to you.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Experiences in the criminal justice system
Can I just follow up on what Jane was saying, because when we went to Styal prison, the governor told us that she was astonished that a magistrate had sent a woman to prison for seven days, which included Christmas day—a mother? So, could you describe why it…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Experiences in the criminal justice system
Okay. Can I next bring in Jane Dodds and then I’ll come back to you? Jane.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Experiences in the criminal justice system
Go ahead, Sioned. I think it's working now.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Experiences in the criminal justice system
Can you go and just—? One second, Sioned. I think that the interpretation may not be set up correctly.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Experiences in the criminal justice system
Thank you. Sioned Williams.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Experiences in the criminal justice system
The first item today is our further session on the experiences of women in the criminal justice system. I'm very pleased to welcome Tom Franklin, representing the Magistrates Association. Altaf Hussain is going to start off the questions. Altaf.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Introductions, apologies and substitutions
I'd like to welcome everybody to the meeting of the Equality and Social Justice Committee. There are no apologies, because all Members are present. I just wondered if there are any declarations anybody needed to make. No, there are not. This is a meeting in…
, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Building Safety Act 2022
Clearly, the Grenfell fire illustrated a failure of building regulations and a failure of enforcement, which all public bodies and private contractors have to bear some responsibility for. It's really unedifying that different contractors are still squabbling…
, Plenary
Debate on the Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee Report— 'Cost of living pressures'
—and I think this is the model that we could be using for all manner of entitlements that people are getting.
, Plenary
Debate on the Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee Report— 'Cost of living pressures'
'The shocking reality is that this winter, we are likely to see charities being forced to stop feeding the hungry so they can help the starving, cut back on support to the poorly housed so they can focus on the fast-rising numbers of homeless, and give up on…
