Police Reform

Debate between Sarah Jones and Ann Davies

Thursday 13th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Jones]

I can absolutely confirm that the focus will be on providing the best possible service to our communities. That means neighbourhood policing and giving the police the powers they need to fight crime, while also holding them to account for everything they do, because their role is incredibly important.

[Ann Davies (Caerfyrddin) (PC)]

May I thank Dafydd Llywelyn for his excellent for his excellent work, especially on rural crime and domestic abuse, and take the opportunity to welcome Ysgol Gynradd Nantgaredig to the Gallery today? Today’s statement makes clear the absurd complexity of an England and Wales justice system. The UK Government will look to the Welsh Government to help replace the PCC system in Wales, but they have refused the same Government powers over policing. Does the Secretary of State now concede that the Welsh Government is the best place to control policing in Wales, and that devolving the entire justice system to Wales makes logical sense?

[Sarah Jones]

I thank the hon. Lady for the promotion— I am just a Minister, not the Secretary of State. We are very conscious that the system in Wales is different from the system in England, which is why we will take some time talking to stakeholders there, not least because Wales is not having a mayoral model. To be clear, this announcement is not about the devolution of policing, but structural changes to a model that simply was not working.

British Steel

Debate between Sarah Jones and Ann Davies

Tuesday 22nd April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)]

I call Ann Davies.

[Ann Davies (Caerfyrddin) (PC)]

Diolch yn fawr, Madam Dirprwy Lefarydd. I would like to follow up on a question from the hon. Member for Brycheiniog, Radnor and Cwm Tawe (David Chadwick), because unlike at Scunthorpe, jobs at Port Talbot are not being saved. The Government say that instead, they will retrain workers through the employment and skills flexible fund. Seven months later, can the Secretary of State say exactly how that money has been spent, and how many of the 2,800 laid-off steelworkers at Port Talbot have been retrained or re-employed?

[Sarah Jones]

I thank the hon. Lady for promoting me to Secretary of State—I am actually just a junior Minister. She is right to raise the issue of Port Talbot. The transition board has papers that we can send her, which set out exactly how many people have gone through training processes. The number of people who have taken compulsory redundancy is very small; I might be wrong—I am speculating slightly—but I think it is in the region of 190. Those people have had a package of support, and a lot of detail is available through the transition board about how that support will be provided. Of course, about 5,000 jobs will be secure in Port Talbot, but the hon. Lady is right to raise the issue; it is a significant and important one that I would not want to downplay. The situation in Port Talbot was different, and we had to have a different response, but I am very happy to provide the information that she wants in more detail.