Shadow Minister for Social Justice and Shadow Counsel General, Mark Isherwood MS, has welcomed the 500 UK Ministry of Justice roles that will be moving to Wales from London and called on the Welsh Government to work with the UK Government to maximise the potential of this.
Last week, the UK Justice Secretary announced that seven new regional Ministry of Justice Offices will be opened across Wales and England, as part of the UK Government’s Places for Growth Programme, with 22,000 roles moving out of London by 2030. This move will see more than 2,000 more roles in areas like finance, human resources and digital move out by 2030, with 500 of those heading to Wrexham, Swansea, Cardiff and Newport.
A new Collaboration Centre will also open in Cardiff for teams to meet up or attend training, and for home workers to use when they need to be in the office.
Questioning the Counsel General on the roles, North Wales MS Mr Isherwood said:
“The UK Justice Secretary, said: ‘By having more of our staff based outside London we can recruit the best people wherever they live so that the justice system benefits from more diverse backgrounds, outlooks and experience’. The Welsh Secretary added: ‘We want to make full use of the talent and potential of the Welsh workforce and moving hundreds of roles to Wales will help us achieve that objective’.
“How will you engage positively with this, both to this end and to ensure synergy with devolved services, maximising the strengths of both Governments to a common end?”
The Counsel General thanked Mr Isherwood for his question and said he supports the proposal that has been made.
He added:
“I can inform you, in fact that myself and the Minister for Social Justice met approximately several hours ago with Lord Wolfson to actually discuss the very announcement and what the implications would actually be.”