Gwent PCC's devolution warning

GWENT’S police and crime commissioner Ian Johnston has warned against devolution for devolution’s sake after a major report called for policing to be devolved.

The Silk Commission yesterday called for a rack of new powers for the Assembly, including for speed and drink and drive limits to be set in Wales. It said the whole model should be overhauled to make it clearer, with more AMs to better scrutinise Welsh laws and the work of the Welsh Government.

The report has had a broad welcome across the political spectrum in the Assembly but got a frosty reception from at least two Gwent MPs.

It is unlikely any of the measures that need new laws will come to fruition before 2015.

Yesterday’s report is the second and last to be produced by the Silk Commission on the future of devolution – which in 2012 had called for Wales to have some tax raising powers.

According to the report’s 61 recommendations policing and the related areas of community safety and crime prevention should be devolved.

However the commission says arrest powers, interrogation, charging suspects and the general powers of constables should not be devolved unless criminal law is devolved.

The Silk report also calls for the youth justice system to be devolved immediately, with a feasibility study to look at the devolution of prisons and probation.

It says there should be a review within ten years of whether other aspects of the justice system should be put in Welsh hands.

Gwent’s Police and Crime Commissioner Ian Johnston said if policing were to be devolved control of parts of the criminal justice system would have to be given to Wales as well, as they are closely linked.

He warned against “devolution for devolution’s sake” and said the recommendations in the report raise “a number of important questions regarding the detail of how some of these responsibilities would be devolved”.

Mr Johnston said: “Only if the recommendations can be shown to add value to the current position should they be considered.”

“It’s not simply a matter of devolving policing,” he said. “You can’t take it apart piecemeal – it’s much more complex than that. Many areas of policing and the criminal justice system are so intrinsically linked that if you devolve one you would have to devolve many more.” Yesterday the force’s chief constable Jeff Farrar wasn’t making any comment – however the previous chief constable Carmel Napier had said transferring powers should be supported subject to a robust assessment.

Commission chairman Paul Silk said the report’s recommendations would “create a stronger Welsh democracy and bring Wales more in line with the other devolved countries of the UK.”

At a press conference he argued that devolution of policing would allow for crime and criminality to be tackled “holistically” and bring responsibility for all emergency services in Wales together.

As well as policing, the report calls for the Wales and Border rail franchise, currently operated by Arriva, to be devolved, together with funding of Network Rail in the country.

Speed limits and drink drive limits should be devolved, as should bus and taxi regulation, the commission argues.

National director of cycling charity Sustrans Jane Lorimer welcomed the Silk Commission’s recommendation on speed limits and hoped “that it can be used to make 20mph the default speed limit in communities across Wales.”

Currently devolution in Wales works through a so-called conferred powers system, meaning laws lay down what the Assembly can do rather than what it can’t.

But the Commission says this system is too complex, and instead called for a reserved powers model which works the other way around, bringing Wales in line with Scotland and Northern Ireland.

According to the commission such a system would make Wales’ responsibilities clearer.

The report calls on the number of AMs to be increased so that the Assembly can perform its scrutiny and role better – saying the Assembly is simply too small to fulfil its role adequately.

But the report doesn’t define how many extra members there should be, simply noting that most analysis suggests it should comprise at least eighty members.

Former Welsh Government minister and commission member Jane Davidson said: “Our job has been to try to make something which is hugely complicated, much clearer.”

She said that the largest group of people in Wales “do want the Assembly to have more power”.

But she said “if the Assembly has more power then you need backbenchers, you need more people to hold the government to account.” Paul Flynn, Labour MP for Newport West, acknowledged public opinion was against having more politicians. However he argued: “People have said by a large majority that they want more powers.

“Part of more powers is more scrutiny – you can’t do it effectively with the present set up.”

But David Davies, Tory MP for Monmouth who helped set up the No campaign in the 1997 Welsh referendum, said he “completely rejected” the report, saying he couldn’t see the argument for more AMs.

He said: “At the end of the day why can’t they just work slightly longer hours? Why give them extra powers if they can’t do the job at the moment?”

Islwyn Labour MP Chris Evans said: “Once again we are debating constitutional matters when we should be dealing with bread and butter issues.

“Constituents of mine in Islwyn are not interested in how big committees are in the Welsh Assembly or how many politicians there are in Cardiff Bay.

“Instead, they are concerned with the increase in energy and food prices, the rising cost of travel and job creation. It is these issues which I think politicians should be debating, not the latest proposals from Silk.”

National Assembly presiding officer and Labour Newport West AM Dame Rosemary Butler was strongly in support of the findings, saying the package of recommendations “provides a strong basis for the development of devolution in Wales”.

She said she was pleased that the commission agreed with her position that the Assembly should have the right to call itself the Welsh Parliament – a name she said “better reflects our position as a mature parliamentary body.”

Policing expert Professor Colin Rogers of the University of South Wales helped to formulate the Institute of Welsh Affairs’ response to the Silk Commission.

He didn’t think communities would see much of a difference at a grass roots level but said “there will be a strengthening of the community safety aspect” which is a devolved function. He said: “People like myself talk about policing and the police as a visible manifestation of the power of the state. We see the uniforms and don’t realise but they are there for our benefit and for the benefit of the state. So what better statement from a new government than to have some form of (control over) policing in its own borders?”

l Wales’ first minister Carwyn Jones said he was delighted that the Welsh Government proposals for a long term settlement formed the basis of the Commission’s recommendations, indicating there will be an Assembly debate on the issue after Easter.

“I want the United Kingdom to flourish, and a devolved Wales to play a dynamic role in it. But for this to happen, the governance of the UK must adapt to the reality of its devolved democracy and the aspirations of its citizens,” he said.

In the Assembly itself Andrew RT Davies, Welsh Tory leader, “all political parties should study these recommendations in detail”, while the Liberal Democrat’s Kirsty Williams said the report sets out an “ideal blueprint.” Plaid parliamentary leader Elfyn Llwyd MP welcomed policing proposals but said “it is frustrating to see little progress being made on creating a Welsh legal jurisdiction.” Prime Minister David Cameron said: “The tax and borrowing powers we are devolving will give the Welsh Assembly and Welsh Government additional means to help generate economic growth and today’s report makes recommendations that propose a new course for the future.”

Wales’ first minister Carwyn Jones said he was delighted that the Welsh Government proposals for a long term settlement formed the basis of the Commission’s recommendations, indicating there will be an Assembly debate on the issue after Easter.

“I want the United Kingdom to flourish, and a devolved Wales to play a dynamic role in it. But for this to happen, the governance of the UK must adapt to the reality of its devolved democracy and the aspirations of its citizens,” he said.

In the Assembly itself Andrew RT Davies, Welsh Tory leader, “all political parties should study these recommendations in detail”, while the Lib Dem’s Kirsty Williams said the report sets out an “ideal blueprint.”

Plaid parliamentary leader Elfyn Llwyd MP welcomed policing proposals but said "it is frustrating to see little progress being made on creating a Welsh legal jurisdiction."

Prime Minister David Cameron said: "The tax and borrowing powers we are devolving will give the Welsh Assembly and Welsh Government additional means to help generate economic growth and today's report makes recommendations that propose a new course for the future.”

Nick Clegg, deputy prime minister, said: “The proposed measures in that could mean big changes for everyone in Wales: more local decisions over how your taxes are spent, more powers over how much Wales borrows and more importantly, more decisions about Wales made by the people of Wales”.

But the Secretary of State for Wales David Jones said "there is insufficient time remaining in this Parliament to implement any changes that require primary legislation.

“These will therefore be a matter for the next Government and Parliament, and for political parties to set out their proposals and intentions to the electorate ahead of the General Election in 2015.”