Police commissioner says now is the time to devolve policing to Wales

Mark Mansfield

The Police and Crime Commissioner for Dyfed-Powys has said the UK Government’s planned overhaul of policing presents the ideal opportunity to devolve responsibility for the service to Wales.

Dafydd Llywelyn made the case while giving evidence alongside Wales’ three other Police and Crime Commissioners to the Westminster Welsh Affairs Committee on Wednesday.

The hearing examined the future of policing in Wales as the UK Government presses ahead with reforms that would abolish Police and Crime Commissioners in England, create larger regional police forces and establish a new National Police Service.

Asked by Plaid Cymru MP Ann Davies whether he supported devolving policing, Mr Llywelyn said it was his “ambition” to see responsibility transferred to the Welsh Government.

He pointed to recommendations from the Silk Commission in 2014 and the Commission on Justice in Wales, chaired by Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, which both argued that policing and justice should ultimately be devolved.

Mr Llywelyn said the UK Government’s plans represented a “seismic shift” in policing and argued the forthcoming legislation should be amended to include the devolution of policing to Wales.

The other three commissioners took a more cautious position.

North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Emma Wools said she supported exploring further devolution of policing and criminal justice powers to Wales.

But South Wales PCC Jane Mudd and Gwent PCC Andrew Dunbobbin, both Labour, said they would not rule out devolution in future but did not believe now was the right time.

The debate comes as the Home Office proposes the biggest structural changes to policing in decades.

Under plans set out in its white paper From Local to National: A New Model for Policing, Police and Crime Commissioners in England would begin to be phased out from 2028, with their responsibilities transferred to new governance arrangements led by mayors and local authority leaders.

The reforms also envisage merging existing police forces into larger regional organisations while strengthening national policing functions.

The proposals have prompted questions over how policing in Wales would be governed if Police and Crime Commissioners were abolished in England but policing remained reserved to Westminster.

The Welsh Government has repeatedly called for policing and criminal justice to be devolved to the Senedd, reflecting recommendations made by the Silk Commission and the Commission on Justice in Wales.

‘Opportunity’

Following Wednesday’s committee session, Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts said the UK Government’s reforms offered an opportunity to bring policing decisions closer to Welsh communities.

She criticised what she described as the “non-committal” stance taken by the Labour commissioners.

“As PCC Llywelyn rightly described, Labour’s policing proposals represent a ‘seismic shift’, but they also present an opportunity to deliver positive change in our communities by bringing power closer to the people it serves,” she said.

She added that Scotland, Northern Ireland, London and Greater Manchester all exercised greater control over policing than Wales and argued that Wales should be given equivalent powers.