debates/debates2025-01-29c conversation_3
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-29)

UK Parliament Hansard data: debates/debates2025-01-29c conversation_3

Catherine Fookes:What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help support crime prevention in Wales. \p Jo Stevens: Our plan for change will put an extra 13,000 police officers, police community support officers and special constables on our streets across the UK, including in Wales. In December, I opened a brand-new base for Gwent police in Abergavenny, so that officers can better serve the town and restore the visible, accessible policing that our communities deserve. \p Catherine Fookes: In Monmouthshire, domestic abuse victims and survivors tell me that their voices still are not heard by the police. They stress the need for those on the ground to be better trained in early intervention, which can prevent escalation and reduce violent behaviour and domestic abuse overall. What steps can be taken with colleagues across Government, and Welsh Government colleagues, to better embed domestic abuse prevention? \p Jo Stevens: My hon. Friend will know that the Prime Minister’s plan for change reinforced our manifesto ambition to halve violence against women and girls in a decade. We will do everything in our power to achieve that. We will put specialist rape and sexual offences  teams in every police force in Wales, and early this year we will start the process of introducing domestic abuse experts into 999 control rooms, so that victims can talk directly to a specialist for the advice and support that they need and deserve. \p Robin Swann: Rural crime is a scourge across the entirety of the United Kingdom. What discussions has the Secretary of State had with her Cabinet colleagues on ensuring a consistent approach to tackling rural crime across the UK? \p Jo Stevens: We were elected on a manifesto that included a mission for safer streets across every nation of the United Kingdom. We will put police back on the beat, ensure there is a named officer for every neighbourhood, and provide 13,000 additional officers, police community support officers and special constables in neighbourhood roles in England and Wales. The provisional police funding settlement has been increased this year by up to £1 billion. \p Lindsay Hoyle: I call the shadow Secretary of State. \p Mims Davies: An ITV Wales investigation last year discovered 28 prevention of future death reports over a 16-month period relating to the north Wales Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. The Welsh Secretary’s predecessor called for an inquiry into these tragedies. Meanwhile, answers are rightly being sought, as there is clear evidence of grooming gangs sexually exploiting young children in Wales. Will the Secretary of State commit to building on her predecessor’s actions, and push the Welsh Government to use the Inquiries Act 2005 to launch two vital Wales-wide inquiries, to give victims and their loved ones justice? \p Jo Stevens: The hon. Lady will be aware that, unlike the previous Government, we are determined to give the victims of child sexual exploitation the long-overdue justice that they deserve by enacting the recommendations of the Jay review. On 16 January, the Home Secretary announced that victims will be given more power to have their cases re-examined. We have also unveiled a rapid national audit, to be led by Baroness Louise Casey, to uncover the scale and profile, including ethnicity, of group-based offending in the UK today. \p Mims Davies: It is clear from the Secretary of State’s weak response that the Labour party has a woman problem and a justice problem. In a Nation Cymru report, a survivor said that she believes the abuse is still happening, and that young victims are not getting the help they need. A refusal to create a process for listening to victims in Wales and holding inquiries means that justice will not prevail and communities remain at risk. This House will be as concerned as I am about the number of domestic abuse cases in south Wales increasing last year; there were almost 18,000 victims. What steps is she taking directly to support victims and survivors? \p Jo Stevens: That is a bit rich coming from the hon. Lady. Previous Conservative Governments—her Governments—decimated the Ministry of Justice budget. Crown court delays, victims waiting years for Crown  court trials—that all happened under their watch. We are protecting women and girls in Wales, where the Tories failed to do so.