Government of Wales Bill

I am very conscious of the relationship between England and Wales, England and Scotland, and England and the UK, because of the nature and position of my constituency, which I discuss regularly in the Chamber and will touch on in my speech. We have made progress with referendums on a regional basis. We had had approaching eight years of Labour Government before the referendum in the north-east. In those circumstances, the people said no. They said, ““We’ve got a Labour Government, so what do we need an assembly for?”” The position would have been different if the north-east had been asked that question in 1997. I wish to discuss two main aspects of the Bill. I welcome the fact that the Bill recognises the continued place of Wales within the UK. That is extremely important, and not only for constitutional reasons. The constituents in my border constituency see an integral relationship between England and Wales. The relationship exists not only in the private sector, where many of my constituents live and work on both sides of the border—and cross the border every day in the course of their lives—but also exists in the provision of public services. We had discussions late last year about the reorganisation of police services in Wales and they included much discussion of the close links between north-west England and north Wales in the operation of ““criminal markets””, as they were called by chief constable Denis O’Connor. It is important that the links are recognised so that the public services can address the issues correctly. Health services are also provided by north-west England to north Wales. There are also close links between probation and prison services, because there are no prisons or youth custody centres in north Wales. It is important for north Wales, as distinct from south Wales, that there is a close working relationship between north-west England and north Wales. That is about the delivery of public services.