Vale of Clwyd MS, Gareth Davies, outlined his opposition to proposals to devolve policing and justice to Wales, arguing that the case for devolution would be of no practical benefit to the people of Wales, would jeopardise intelligence sharing, and would be more expensive for the taxpayer.
Mr Davies warned that devolving policing and justice would lead to higher costs per head for Welsh taxpayers, citing UK Government estimates from 2018 that initial set-up costs would exceed £100 million, with additional annual costs of tens of millions of pounds each year. He warned that costs are likely to be significantly higher since the 2018 estimate and argued that Wales currently benefits from reduced costs through its integrated system with England, and that devolution could divert resources away from frontline services towards building the new policing and justice infrastructure.
He also highlighted the cross-border nature of crime, particularly in North Wales, where the majority of criminal activity involves links with neighbouring regions such as Merseyside and Cheshire, drawing attention to comments made by Chief Constable of North Wales Police, Amanda Blakeman, that most criminality moves between East and West rather than North and South. He referenced figures suggesting that around 95% of crime in North Wales is cross-border in nature and criticised the Report published by the Thomas Commission for only mentioning cross-border crime once.
Mr Davies further noted that unlike Scotland and Northern Ireland, Wales has never operated a separate justice and policing system, making the devolution of these responsibilities novel and complex to set-up, arguing that the integrated system allows access to wider expertise, shared intelligence, and international credibility on organised crime and counter-terrorism.
Following the debate, Gareth Davies MS said:
“The proposals to devolve policing and justice are driven more by symbolism rather than practicality and will not deliver safer streets or better outcomes for people in Wales.
“Wales benefits from being part of a larger, integrated system with shared expertise, and effective cooperation across borders, which is particularly important in North Wales where most crime does not respect regional boundaries.
“Devolution of justice and policing would come at a significant cost to Welsh taxpayers, with money diverted away from frontline services to create unnecessary new bureaucratic structures.
“The Welsh Government is not governing competently with the powers it already has, so they should stop the ideological push for more devolution and focus on improving our ailing educational outcomes and unacceptable NHS waits.”