Senedd: Welsh Government demands devolved role in new police governance
Welsh Government is pushing for a devolved governance model for policing in Wales after the UK Government confirmed police and crime commissioners will be abolished by 2028.
Jane Hutt, the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip, told the Equality and Social Justice Committee on Monday that extensive discussions were under way with the UK Government’s policing Minister about what replaces the current system.
“There have been extensive discussions since the announcement, and obviously questions to me in the Senedd about this, and also extensive discussions with the PCCs themselves,” Ms Hutt told the committee.
She said Wales was in a different position from England and needed a governance model that reflected that.
“We have been clear, as Welsh Ministers, that new governance arrangements should be a devolutionary process,” Ms Hutt said.
“We need to ensure that what comes out of this with the police reform White Paper is that we have something that, in Wales, shows the role that Welsh Government and local government can play in terms of democratic accountability, including a proper role for Welsh Ministers, for the Senedd and local authorities.”
The Welsh Government’s position follows the UK Government’s police reform White Paper in January, which Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood described as the most significant overhaul of policing in nearly 200 years.
The proposals include a new National Police Service to tackle serious and organised crime and could see the number of forces across England and Wales cut by around two thirds.
In North Wales, the proposals raised immediate concerns about cross-border operations.
North Wales PCC Andy Dunbobbin warned in January that day-to-day policing in the region is closely linked to the North West of England through established patterns of serious and organised crime, including county lines drug supply and the movement of offenders across borders.
“Operational effectiveness relies on well embedded joint working with neighbouring English forces, regional organised crime units, and partner agencies to manage risk, safeguard vulnerable people, and disrupt criminal networks,” Mr Dunbobbin said at the time.
“Any change to policing structures must support these operational realities and avoid introducing barriers that could undermine intelligence sharing, joint tasking, or rapid operational response.”
The four Welsh PCCs issued a joint statement in January accepting the need to modernise policing but stressing that any review must reflect the distinct partnership approach developed in Wales over many years.
They committed to playing “a full and meaningful role in designing future arrangements for Wales.”
Ms Hutt confirmed a policing partnership board was meeting on Thursday to continue discussions.
She said local government had been closely involved.
“My discussions have been with the policing Minister,” she said. “And if I could just say that we have policy principles that we’ve agreed in terms of the way forward, but I’ve made it clear that we must safeguard the integrity of devolved systems and frameworks, which provide the key elements of policing in Wales, and that includes local government.”
The Cabinet Secretary told the committee the changes would have lasting consequences for Welsh governance.
“I think this will influence not just the next Government, but also the next Senedd in terms of committees, as well as ministerial posts,” Ms Hutt said.
The policing discussion came in a session that also covered the Welsh Government’s push for a memorandum of understanding on probation, modelled on Greater Manchester’s arrangement with the Ministry of Justice.
Ms Hutt said she wanted the probation MOU agreed before the end of the sixth Senedd.
Sioned Williams MS (Plaid Cymru, South Wales West) challenged the legal standing of the MOU approach, citing the House of Commons Library’s view that such agreements have no legal force and the UK Government could withdraw at any time.
Ms Hutt acknowledged the MOU would be a non-statutory agreement but said Greater Manchester’s experience showed it could deliver results in practice.
“This is power for a purpose, after all,” she said. “This is about actually giving us all the devolved services relevant to probation.”
Mike Connolly, deputy director for the community safety division at Welsh Government, told the committee the MOU was “progressing really well” at official level. He said detail on how disputes could be raised was still being worked through.
No confirmed timeline was given for the police reform White Paper’s implementation or for the specific governance model that will replace PCCs in Wales.
The Home Office said in January that the precise number and nature of force mergers would be the subject of a review reporting back to Ms Mahmood in the summer.
Ms Hutt said her policy principles had been agreed but did not share them publicly during the session.
Mr Dunbobbin’s warning in January that any reform must “avoid introducing barriers that could undermine intelligence sharing, joint tasking, or rapid operational response” remains unanswered.
The committee did not press Ms Hutt on how the Welsh Government’s devolutionary ambitions would sit alongside the cross-border operational realities that define policing in North Wales.
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