NDM6949 Plaid Cymru debate - Prisons and Criminal Justice
NDM6949 Plaid Cymru debate - Prisons and Criminal Justice
NDM6949 Rhun
ap Iorwerth (Ynys Môn)
To
propose that the National Assembly for Wales:
1.
Notes the report by the Wales Governance Centre, Sentencing and Immediate
Custody in Wales: A Factfile.
2.
Expresses concern at the report’s finding that Wales has the highest
incarceration rate in western Europe, and that women, BAME people and
disadvantaged communities are disproportionately impacted by harsher sentencing
in Wales.
3.
Notes previous research by the Wales Governance Centre which has revealed
widespread safety and wellbeing issues in Wales’s prisons, including increasing
rates of substance misuse, self-harm, violence and suicide.
4.
Notes that a number of young offenders from Wales serve prison sentences in
England, and that incarceration has a significant negative impact on young
people’s future life chances.
5.
Calls for:
a)
the full devolution of criminal justice to Wales;
b)
the ruling out of the construction of further ‘super prisons’ on any site in
Wales and calls on Welsh Government to communicate this opposition to the
Ministry of Justice;
c)
the full re-unification of the probation service and an end to partial
privatisation;
d)
a focus on community-based approaches for non-violent crimes and an end to the
overuse of shorter prison sentences;
e)
an end to custodial sentences for young people and women other than in
exceptional circumstances;
f)
the right to vote for prisoners in Welsh elections.
Wales
Governance Centre - Sentencing and Immediate Custody in Wales: A Factfile
Wales
Governance Centre - Imprisonment in Wales: A Factfile
The following amendments
were tabled:
Amendment
1 - Gareth
Bennett (South Wales Central)
Delete
all and replace with:
To
propose that the National Assembly for Wales:
1.
Notes the Wales Governance Centre report on Sentencing and Immediate Custody,
Imprisonment in Wales and supplementary evidence to the Welsh Affairs Select
Committee.
2.
Further notes that, according to the Ministry of Justice, in October 2018, 11
percent of the total prison population in England and Wales were foreign
nationals, with the most common foreign nationalities being Polish, Albanian,
Irish and Romanian.
3.
Believes that:
a)
the prison service should be adequately funded and prison officers adequately
paid;
b)
all prisoners should be in the custody of officers of the Crown answerable to
UK Government Ministers and not private companies;
c)
the Welsh Government should work with the UK Government to reverse
privatisation of the prison system;
d)
foreign criminals should be deported to serve their sentences in their own
countries, and such criminals should be banned from re-entering the UK;
e)
new prisons should be built as necessary throughout the UK to accommodate the
number of persons convicted of imprisonable crimes.
Offender
Management Statistics Bulletin, England and Wales
[If amendment 1 is agreed,
amendments 2 and 3 will be de-selected]
Amendment
2 - Darren
Millar (Clwyd West)
Delete
all after point 1 and replace with:
Notes
the focus by the Ministry of Justice on rehabilitative services, community
sentences and reducing reoffending.
[If
amendment 2 is agreed, amendment 3 will be de-selected]
Amendment
3 - Rebecca
Evans (Gower)
Delete
point 5 and replace with:
Welcomes
the work of the Commission on Justice in Wales and looks forward to its
recommendations about future responsibilities for policing and justice in
Wales.
Calls
for
a)
the ruling out of the construction of further ‘super prisons’ on any site in
Wales and calls on Welsh Government to communicate this opposition to the
Ministry of Justice;
b)
the full re-unification of the probation service and an end to partial
privatisation;
c)
a focus on community-based approaches for non-violent crimes and an end to the
overuse of shorter prison sentences;
d)
an end to custodial sentences for young people and women other than in
exceptional circumstances; and
e)
the right to vote for prisoners in Welsh elections.
Business type: Debate
Reason considered: Senedd Business;
Status: Complete
First published: 09/06/2021
Decision due: 30 Jan 2019 by Plenary - Fifth Senedd
Lead member: Rhun ap Iorwerth MS