North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has this afternoon attacked calls for the devolution of policing in Wales, highlighting the concerns of North Wales Police and the North Wales Police Federation regarding the proposals.
Speaking in today’s Assembly Debate on Police Devolution, Mr Isherwood said that while policing is a devolved matter in Scotland and Northern Ireland, the situation is different in Wales.
He said:
“As this motion states, specialist policing matters such as counter-terrorism are best co-ordinated at a UK level. However, its call for the devolution of policing for Wales defies reality.
“48% of the people in Wales live within 25 miles of the border with England, and 90% within 50 miles. In contrast, only 5% of the combined population of Scotland and England lives within 50 miles of the border between those countries.
“Most people in Wales live along the M4 and A55 corridors, separated by a vast rural area, and very different policing requirements.
“Policing interdependence between North East Wales and North West England is illustrated by the fact that this is the only part of the UK with a connecting urban area divided by a National Boundary.
He added:
“My contacts in both North Wales Police and the North Wales Police Federation have repeatedly told me that they have a closer affiliation with north-west England than the rest of Wales, and that there is a lack of competence in Welsh Government to handle the devolution of policing.
“They expressed concern to me this week that Welsh Government control of policing budgets would see funding filtered south – and stated that they would like to know whether there is a desire in Welsh Government to merge the police forces in Wales, a proposal that was killed several years ago.
“As they stated, “the geography and current calibrations with various English forces makes the concept of an all Wales Police Force very difficult”, adding “to force such a move to satisfy the egos of certain Politicians should be carefully monitored”.
He added: “The call for devolution of policing by Labour and the separatists is a blatant power grab which would deliver the opposite of real devolution.
“This First Minister refers to the devolution of policing to Manchester as a model for Wales, but those are only the powers of Police and Crime Commissioners, and we already have devolution to them in Wales. What he is therefore actually talking about is taking yet more powers from the regions of Wales and centralising these in Cardiff, giving themselves power to hire and fire Chief Constables.
“Given Labour’s record of creeping and often intimidatory politicisation of devolved public services, this is a chilling proposition.”