Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Welsh Government on the desired governance end state for policing in Wales following the policing white paper; when those discussions took place; and what the outcomes were.

We are working closely with the Welsh Government, as well as other Welsh Stakeholders including Welsh local government, police forces and other partners, to ensure new governance arrangements provide strong and effective police governance in Wales.

Officials have established a specific Welsh transition working group as part of the Police Governance Reform project, which last met on 22 January. Welsh Government officials are members of this Board and Home Office and Welsh Government officials speak regularly to develop proposals. The Minister for Policing and Crime regularly speaks to the Welsh Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Jane Hutt MS, and she attended the Policing Partnership Board for Wales on 18 December. The Minister plans to attend the next Board on 5 March.

We will continue to work collaboratively with Welsh stakeholders on the design and implementation of governance arrangements in Wales.