§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their response to the view expressed on 1 September by the Prison Reform Trust that thousands of women are needlessly imprisoned. [HL4182]
§ Baroness Scotland of AsthalThe Government are concerned about the number of women offenders in prison, both on remand and sentenced. The Prison Reform Trust's recent report on the rise of the women's remand population highlights some important issues and we welcome its contribution to the debate on this.
It is, of course, for the courts to decide in each case whether to remand a person in custody and subsequently what sentence is appropriate. We acknowledge, though, that there is a significant number of women who are remanded in custody who do not go on to receive a custodial sentence.
We are taking forward the Women's Offending Reduction Programme, published on 11 March 2004, which promotes a more focused response to the range of factors that have an impact on why women offend. It encourages joint working between departments, agencies and other organisations to tackle those factors, including problems with mental health, drugs, housing, childcare, abuse and employment. The longterm objectives of the programme are to reduce women's offending and to reduce the number of women in custody. The intent is to maximise the 54WA opportunities for a diversion at the pre-sentence stage. The focus too will be on improving community based interventions that are better tailored to the needs of women, and encouraging greater use of community disposals to ensure that custody is only used for women who really need to be there. In addition, the recently published national probation service accommodation strategy includes a commitment to develop more all-women provision within the approved premises estate.
It is encouraging to note that after a decade in which the female prison population grew by almost 200 per cent the current total is broadly the same as it was this time last year.