I thank Ms Dowey for her important questions. It is with great respect that I say that a prison population of 8,348 does not smack of soft justice, nor does it smack of smart justice. All of us in the Parliament needs to ditch our rhetoric, roll up our sleeves and do what is in the best interests of our communities.
Make no mistake about it: what happens in our prisons matters. Our prison system is not the end of the line—most prisoners are released. If our prison officers and staff cannot undertake important rehabilitative work or healthcare work, all that happens is that people are released and risk increases in our communities. At the end of the day, I know that we all want to have less crime, fewer victims and safer communities, but, because we are in a crisis, a critical risk exists and we must focus on the solutions that are needed now.
Ms Dowey spoke very powerfully about the plight of prison officers. I have known and worked with many prison officers. Right now, they need to know that we stand behind them. Every day that they go in to work, they put themselves on the line for us and the communities that we all seek to serve. They need to know that we are with them and that help is on the way.
Absolutely nothing is more dear to me than public safety, Ms Dowey. I am sure that she is aware of the safeguards that exist on emergency release and that some people will be automatically excluded. The veto that governors will have provides further reassurance, in that he or she can exclude anyone that they believe poses a risk to an individual or, indeed, a group of individuals.
Ms Dowey is right: doing this in a planned, orderly way is imperative. Unlike other Governments, no one will ever be in a position in which they have to drag information out of me. I am being candid and upfront, and I am not sugarcoating anything. I will work collaboratively—we will all need courage—and members have my absolute commitment to leadership on the issue. I will work with all members to support our communities and our prison service.