I shall speak very briefly on Amendments 178 and 188. I thank the Minister for moving them and express my support.
In the traditional approach to domestic abuse, we looked separately at the responsibilities of local authorities, health authorities, the police, the courts and those responsible for offenders. We generally also legislated separately. The modern approach is to try to tackle domestic abuse by a combined approach that tries to ensure that all who have an interest in doing what can be done to see that domestic abuse is properly tackled and prevented—local authorities, health authorities, educational authorities, the police, the courts and those responsible for offenders—work together under a single piece of legislation, under a single strategy and with single guidance. For England the Bill will do that, and I believe it will do so better still when it is amended in the way urged in the many powerful speeches made and the careful amendments proposed in this House.
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However, for Wales, unfortunately the way the devolution scheme has so far evolved means that this solution is not possible. In Wales, local government, health and education are devolved. The duties and structures in England are different and so are dealt with in Part 4 of the Bill, which does not extend to Wales. In Wales there is separate legislation, the Violence Against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Act 2015. That Act imposes a duty on the Welsh Government to deal with domestic abuse and provides for its own local government structures and health boards to establish local strategies to address domestic abuse. However, this Bill has to deal with other issues for Wales. The duties of the police, remedies in court and protection in court in Part 5 and offences involving violence in Part 6 apply to both England and Wales because Welsh legislation could not provide for them as the police, courts and prisons are not devolved. We see this division further illustrated by the miscellaneous provisions in Part 7. Some deal with England and Wales, such as the release of offenders and information gathered by police, but some deal only with England, such as homelessness and tenancies.
As this very brief outline shows, Wales cannot enjoy the same overall solution of a single piece of legislation with supporting structures, strategies and guidance to apply between local authorities, health, the police, the courts and those responsible for offenders as will happen in England. In Wales, the position of local government, health boards and local authorities was addressed in 2015. As the police and the courts are for Westminster, they must now be dealt with in this legislation. It inevitably gives rise to a jagged edge and the lack of a single piece of legislation, a single strategy and single guidance. This is a matter for which I believe a solution must be found, as set out in the report of the commission which I chaired—but tonight, and certainly at this hour, is not the time to develop this matter.
What is for tonight is an interim solution, and to acknowledge and truly thank the Minister who, among all else that she has to do, has found the time to deal with Wales. I therefore welcome Amendments 178
and 188 and thank the Minister for them and for what she is doing to help the Bill ensure that domestic violence is tackled in Wales, as the work of the Welsh Government and investigations there have shown what a very serious matter this is in Wales. I simply observe that this clause is a perfect illustration, by providing for two sets of guidance, of the need for a long-term and rational scheme of devolution which eliminates the complexities and disadvantages to Wales. It is really remarkable that, alone of the four nations of this our United Kingdom, Wales is not able to enjoy the unified approach set out in the Bill for England.