WASC considers progress

21 July 2020

The differing lockdown guidelines in Wales, forthcoming legislative change and plans for working with Senedd Members and other stakeholders were all discussed at the latest meeting of the Police Federation of England and Wales’ Welsh Affairs Sub-Committee (WASC).

The WASC meeting, which was held via Microsoft Teams on Tuesday 14 July and was chaired by the Federation’s Welsh lead, Mark Bleasdale, began with a short update from the national chair of the Police Federation, John Apter.

Mark went on to outline his progress in building relations with the Welsh Government and individuals since taking on the Welsh lead role in November last year. While in recent months, he had been largely reliant on video conference and telephone calls, he said he had formed some effective links including regular contact with Paul Morris who heads up the Police Liaison Unit in the Welsh Government.

Discussions had centred on the Police Covenant, which is included in the Police Powers and Protections Bill due before Parliament in the autumn, and ambulance conveyance, an ongoing issue for police officers who were, at times, being left to take people to hospital due to the pressures on an over-stretched ambulance service.

Addressing the pandemic, Mark said the four Welsh forces and Federation branches had worked together as a cohesive unit.

Zac Mader, national Federation representative for the Welsh region, raised concerns about the College of Policing not producing documents in the Welsh language and agreed to raise this with its chief executive officer Mike Cunningham and report back.

Mark Hinge of The Bay, who is the WASC political adviser, gave a written update in which he explained that the pandemic had been a catalyst to show that Wales makes its own laws with its own lockdown restrictions being eased on a three-weekly basis.

He pointed out that the Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament – had replaced the ‘Welsh Assembly’ from 6 May with Assembly Members (AMs) now known as Members of the Senedd (MS). A General Election for the Senedd will be held in May 2021, along with Police and Crime Commissioners’ elections which were delayed from this year.

A sub-committee of the Cabinet in Wales has met four times to progress the 78 recommendations made by The Thomas Commission on Justice in Wales. While this has been halted by the coronavirus crisis, it is expected to re-start in the autumn.

Other inputs came from Federation National Board members Belinda Goodwin, who is also the wellbeing lead, and Tiff Lynch, who is a member of the Federation’s Parliamentary and Conduct and Performance Sub-Committees.

Tiff explained that virtual meetings were taking place with MPs on a weekly basis and that where these involved MPs for Welsh constituencies Mark would be invited to attend and, indeed he had already met with some Welsh politicians. Key issues for discussion were the work around proposed increased maximum sentences for those who assault police officers and the provisions of the Police Powers and Protections Bill – the Police Covenant and legislation to better protect police drivers.

This legislation would require a Legislative Consent Motion to be considered by the Senedd if it was to have an effect in Wales. The UK Government is also expected to amend the Mental Health Act, which is applicable only in England. Wales has its own Mental Health Act.

The next WASC meeting will be held on 13 August, again via Teams.