I think it's true to say that all four Chief Constables in Wales support the devolution of policing from Westminster to Cardiff Bay, but it's always nice to hear it from one of them directly.
For anyone who missed it, this is what Peter Vaughan of the South Wales force said about it on the Politics Show yesterday:
I couldn't agree more. This is something that's devolved to both Scotland and Northern Ireland, and it's high time for both policing and the justice system to be devolved to Wales as well.
5 comments:
Sooner rather than later! Just like Scotland and Northern Ireland we should take control over the police just as we already control other public services. It is equally logical that we should also be in control of the justice system as well.
Current decisions made by Westminster are taken from a "English City crime problem" perspective which is largely inappropriate to vast swathes of Wales. This will lead to better more effective policing and the implementation of our own Justice system better suited to Welsh needs.
Just heard on the news that Network Rail is devolving decision-making to Wales.
Totally unrelated but I thought you were the best to ask!
What is Wales's constitutional position at the moment? Is it a Principality? And has it ever actually been a Principality? The reason I ask, is that the PoW isn't really a Prince of ours as he has no powers within it (like the one in Monaco), when Llywelyn was around he was actually a King (as for some reason the word Tywysog seems inferior to a King, but it actually never was).
But in 2011- are some royal corespondents wrong to say "the principality of Wales"?
I was mightily impressed by the quiet, modest, patriotic performance of Peter Vaughan on this program. He is obviously very effective in his role (as measured by the falling crime rates) and gave a more compelling case for devolving Police and Criminal justice ( I don't believe you can do one without the other) than any politician could have done.
I agree that it would be good to devolve the whole of police and justice, Britnot. The only question is whether it's likely to happen sooner if we approach it on a bit-by-bit basis. The devolution settlement we have now is piecemeal and changing all the time, so I just wonder if it's best to look at each part on its merits. It's had the support of the Chief Constables for several years now, so there's clearly an appetite for it among the professionals involved. ACPO in Wales wanted policing devolved as part of the 2006 GoWA, but Labour got vicious, accused them of playing politics and refused to do it.
The Network Rail thing is good, but it's been in the pipeline for some time. Yesterday was just the day it was finally implemented. I think what we should press for now is proper devolution of spending, particularly capital spending, along "Barnettized" lines. At present Wales only gets about 3% of the total capital investment in "Englandandwales" rail, we should be getting twice that on a per capita basis.
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Anon, It's always difficult to say what our constitutional position is, because the UK doesn't have a constitution and just makes it up as it goes along. However Wales is officially not a principality. It is a "country" of the UK, i.e. we have the same official status as England and Scotland. See this story. It touches on some of the same points you've made.
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I was impressed with him too, Siônnyn. Let's hope he gets his way.
Don't you think it has it's advantages with a common police force?
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