HC Deb 18 February 1971 vol 811 cc2107-8
21. Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what special provision is included in the plans for the new Holloway Prison for mothers with young children serving sentences.

Mr. Carlisle

There will be accommodation in special units for up to 42 mothers and their children. It is hoped that mothers serving sentences of imprisonment will then be able in appropriate cases to keep their children with them up to the age of about five years.

Mrs. Short

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that a woman may have more than one child with her in Holloway? Is it not a serious situation that we should allow women with young children first to be sent to prison and then to have their children in that environment? Will he look at the proposals for the rebuilding of Holloway while there is yet time for the plans to be altered to see what can be done to make sure that women with young children are not sent to prison unless they require the most secure conditions, which is necessary only in a small minority of cases?

Mr. Carlisle

I know the hon. Lady's interest in this matter, but it is a question of striking a balance between the undesirability of sending mothers with young children to prison where it can be avoided, with which I agree, and the necessity from time to time when the safety of the public requires it of imposing a prison sentence on a person who happens to be a mother with a young child. That is why the provision is made. I agree with the hon. Lady that where possible mothers with very young children and women who are pregnant should be dealt with in ways other than by imprisonment.