More to come on devolution of Welsh justice, says UK minister

A UK government minister says the "potential is high" for control of parts of the criminal justice system to pass from Westminster to Wales.

The devolution of policing and prisons are key demands of the Plaid Cymru Welsh government, which has been in power since May.

Justice Secretary Alex Norris said conversations are taking place with the Cardiff administration. While they were "further ahead" on youth justice, he said there was "more to come".

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has previously said he is "open" to devolving policing.

Norris spoke during a visit of HMP Cardiff on Monday.

Unlike in Scotland and Northern Ireland, Wales' justice system is run from Westminster.

The Plaid government, and the Labour administration that came before it, argue that devolving powers would help public services to work together better.

Critics include former Labour leader Lord Kinnock, who argued that the upheaval of creating a new system would have "more downsides than upsides".

In January, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood flatly rejected calls for policing powers to be passed to the previous Labour-led Welsh government.

In March the UK government agreed with the then-Labour administration a bigger role for the Welsh government on youth justice.

First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth put his demands for more devolution to the prime minister at Andy Burnham's National Economic Council last month.

Norris told BBC Wales: "I think there's plenty of scope.

"On the youth justice side, making a change there is transformative for lives and communities and I wouldn't want that to be underplayed.

"But we know there is a desire to go further.

"The prime minister was with leaders at the National Economic Council, and some very important requests were put to him. I know we intend to go back in short order on those.

"So I think the potential is high. We're further ahead in certain areas, in particular in youth justice, but I think there's more to come.

Asked about policing devolution, Norris said conversations are underway with the Home Office, the Welsh government and No.10. "The thing for us is making sure the right powers are at the right levels."

Parc Prison in Bridgend was criticised last year for failing to tackle an "alarming" amount of drugs that have led to a spate of deaths.

The minister said: "We are aware of some of the challenges in prisons across England and Wales.

"Prisons are places of punishment, they are difficult places to be but they should be safe places, they should be drug-free places."

Wales has no women's prison. A planned residential centre in Swansea was meant to open in 2024 but has not progressed.

Asked if Norris could commit to that, he said: "It's not a commitment I could make today.

"But what we're absolutely committed to is making sure the female estate across England and Wales is the best possible it can be."