Welsh government to get some control over youth justice for first time

Funding aimed at stopping children from committing crime or needing to be remanded in custody if they are accused of offences will be transferred to the Welsh government. Welsh ministers in Cardiff will be put in charge of funding for some youth justice initiatives by the UK government from April 2027. It stops significantly short of handing over full powers over criminal justice but will be the first time that Welsh government will have a say within the system since the Senedd's predecessor, the National Assembly, was established in 1999. The Welsh government said it would be pressing the UK government "to go further". Claire Hughes, UK government Wales office minister, told BBC Radio Wales it was an "important first step" in the devolution of criminal justice. The UK government suggests the changes will allow for schemes to be more "streamlined", with services run from Cardiff already having a significant role in youth justice prior to Monday's announcement. Unlike in Scotland and Northern Ireland, the devolution process that has seen powers move from Westminster to Cardiff has never involved the criminal justice system in Wales. Advocates for a Wales-only criminal justice system