Welsh police chiefs discuss devolution with MPs

19 July 2023

Devolution of police powers in Wales was high on the agenda when the chief constables of the four Welsh forces appeared before MPs in Westminster.

The chiefs were giving evidence to the cross-party Commons Welsh Affairs Committee which asked them for their views on devolving their powers.

Policing policy is still reserved to the UK Government while areas which can have an impact on policing, such as health and social care, are devolved to the Welsh Government.

South Wales Police’s Chief Constable Jeremy Vaughan told the MPs there were still too many unanswered questions about the devolution of police powers but acknowledged some aspects of policing would benefit from a handover of powers from London.

He said: “There are 250 incidents reported to South Wales Police every day by people concerned for people’s safety and that concern is usually a combination of social deprivation need, mental health issues, underlying health problems and so on.

“So on that level it is very appealing to be part of a policy and regulatory landscape that meant we had a minister we could go to in the Welsh Government and work with partners to deliver a better One Public Service Wales.

“Lots of our business is not crime and disorder so on that level it would certainly help.

“The parts of the business that are crime and disorder at the moment rely heavily on very operational interfaces with England and we would need to understand as chief constables what the policy landscape would look like for that service in the future.

“I am not a fence-sitter and I can see the benefits. But there are so many unresolved questions about the operational interface outside of Wales that would need to be satisfied before I could say we must go ahead and devolve policing.”

North Wales Police Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman echoed Mr Vaughan’s comments.

She told the committee:  “I have done lead work for violence against women and girls across Wales and in terms of being able to look at that, to be able to deliver strategy, to be able to work through the partnerships, it has been much easier to do that within Wales than it has in England because the relationships and partnerships and the scale of it is clearly and easier position to navigate.

“If I look at regional organised crime, my collaborations across Cheshire and Merseyside and dealing with the day-to-day business of criminals who offend in North Wales but live elsewhere, then it becomes a real issue.

“So there are examples of how it would be easier but also of how it would be a real challenge.

“But to be clear, operationally, we would have to make an assessment of what devolved policing means for us.”

Police Federation Welsh affairs lead Nicky Ryan said the debate on devolution always raised interesting questions.

She: “Our position on devolving police powers has always been one of neutrality - it has to be a political decision.

“But we do believe very strongly that none of the services provided by the police should ever suffer to accommodate the structure of any new organisation should we move to a one Force model in Wales.”