, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
Yes, I've not read that report. I'd be very interested to do so.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
You've done it.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
Yes, absolutely. When I was in post last time, I visited both Styal and Eastwood Park, and I could probably tell you minute by minute what went on when I was in Eastwood Park prison. I found that a very, very challenging visit. It was quite horrifying in the…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
Sorry.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
For me, the big plus in this area is the partnership working—so, the work we do with our police forces, with our police and crime commissioners. It's really important that we have that collaboration, to make sure we bring forward the approach that we have…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
Please. Sorry.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
We can tell.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
I'm really sorry, I didn't catch a bit of that. Is it me? I'm not sure if it—
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
Thank you. So, there was a review of that programme. I think, again, it was to make sure that the design of the programme, the delivery of the programme, was fit for purpose. There was lots of engagement with public sector organisations, third sector…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
I can't give succinct answers. [Laughter.]
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
Sorry, Amelia—
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
No, I appreciate that. The difficulty is that when we only have one-year funding, it's really difficult to do that. I must admit, I haven't spent a lot of time on the budget. I inherited a budget, which obviously was part of the collective responsibility, and…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
Did you say migrant women? Yes. So, officials work closely with migration policy officials, social services officials, housing policy officials. As you know, migration and asylum are reserved to the UK Government, but I think, for us as a Government, it's for…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
You and I did have a discussion around this in the letter that I sent to you, so I did bring the letter to committee with me. Obviously, a lot of this will sit in Lynne Neagle's portfolio, so I've asked for a meeting with her to discuss it. So, I can write to…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
Well, I know, before I came into portfolio, there was an informal survey undertaken with organisations, and when I came into portfolio, I looked at that. As I say, at the moment, there is still a huge amount of work we are doing. You've got to look at…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
So, at the moment, I've asked for, not a pause, but we're still doing so much work with people who've sought refuge here, so I want to make sure that what we're doing now is fit for purpose. Since I came into portfolio, I've asked officials to continue to…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
Will do.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
But it's the head of my department, and it's fair to say that we now have a full team, led by Lorna and I think you can see already the progress that Lorna and the team are making.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
Yes. I think it's fair to say, and I know that you're aware, and, obviously, staffing of officials is not for me, but—
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
I think that's really important, and one of the things—. I've had—I don't know how many I've had; it seems I've had about six, I think, so you can see how hard the team are working—Gypsy Traveller accommodation assessments. So, again, we didn't have all of…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
Yes. Well, I'm not, personally, but officials are working with them. I think there's a bit more hand-holding going on. We've had guidance to them, we've revised the guidance, because I think that was, perhaps, a barrier. So, it's really important that local…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
I think you're right. There has been a lack of progress, and this is an area where, again, right at the beginning, working with Lorna and the team, I've been really keen to have a focus. A little bit of good news. You'll be aware of the capital grant that we…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
This is a piece of work that has been right at the fore of my workload. I've met with Professor Debbie Foster who co-chairs the disability rights taskforce, and you may be aware—I hope I'm not telling you something that you already know—but this has been a…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
We could also—. Obviously, we provide funding to BAWSO to help us in this aspect, so we could certainly see if they've got any data as well, Jane.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
I was just going to ask Amelia if she knows.
