Shadow Communities Secretary Mark Isherwood AM has asked the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children, Carl Sargeant AM, what engagement he is having with the UK Secretary of State for Justice following an announcement this month of a £64 million investment in youth custody.
Speaking in the Assembly Chamber yesterday, he said:
“Given your responsibilities at the devolved level for crime and justice policy, including youth justice, how are you engaging or will you be engaging with the UK Secretary of State for Justice after the announcement at the beginning of this month of a £64 million investment in youth custody to boost staffing and education for young offenders, and of a national taskforce - presumably a UK national taskforce - to help ex-offenders into employment, which will target employers to sell the benefits of employing ex-offenders, as well as advising governors on training to give former prisoners the best chance to maximise their chances of employment after release?”
The Cabinet Secretary replied: “A lot of the services around prisons are devolved services. So, health, education, et cetera, are devolved services and we have regular discussions about what the involvement is of Government in terms of their ability to help structure a new approach to probation services and rehabilitation in our communities.”