HC Deb 24 November 1977 vol 939 cc871-3W
Mr. Ron Thomas

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many children under the age of 5 years are currently in Her Majesty's prisons with their mothers who are serving prison sentences;

(2) how many children under the age of 5 years were in Her Majesty's prisons in the United Kingdom with their mothers who were serving prison sentences in the years 1974, 1975 and 1976, respectively;

(3) how many children are currently in Her Majesty's prisons with their mothers, who are serving prison sentences, under the age of 1 year, more than 1 year but under the age of 2 years, more than 2 but under the age of 3 years, and more than 3 years but under the age of 4 years;

(4) which prisons in the United Kingdom are used to accommodate mothers who are serving prison sentences with their children;

(5) what facilities are provided for children in Her Majesty's prisons in the United Kingdom who are with their mothers who are serving prison sentences;

(6) what happens to a child who has previously been with his or her mother in one of Her Majesty's prisons when that child reaches the age of 5 years and the mother remains in custody;

if he will list in the Official Report the main categories of offences committed by mothers who are now serving sentences and who have their child or children with them in one of Her Majesty's prisons in the United Kingdom;

(8) if he will publish in the Official Report a frequency distribution showing periods of time spent by children in Her Majesty's prisons in the United Kingdom with their mothers who are in custody;

(9) what criteria are used to determine whether or not a mother who has a baby while serving a prison sentence keeps the child with her while she is in custody;

(10) what criteria are used to determine whether or not a mother committed to one of Her Majesty's prisons in the United Kingdom has her child with her during all or some of the time the mother is in custody.

Mr. John

On 17th November 1977 there were 26 children with their mothers in custody in England and Wales; 24 of these children were under the age of 1 year and the remaining two were over 1 and under 2 years of age. 18 of these children were born during the mother's current period in custody and the remaining eight were young babies who accompanied their mothers into custody. 20 of the mothers are serving sentences of imprisonment, five are serving borstal sentences and one is in custody awaiting sentence. While precise information for previous years is not available the number of mothers who at present have their babies with them in custody is about the average for recent years.

There are special mother and baby units at Holloway, Styal and Askham Grange Prisons. These units provide places for women with children and expectant mothers in the later stages of pregnancy. In addition to the 26 mothers with babies, there were on 17th November, 27 pregnant women in these units. Full nursing and medical supervision is provided and training in child care is given; but in normal circumstances arrangements are made, by temporary transfer, to secure that babies are born in the maternity wing of a National Health Service hospital. Cots, prams, play facilities and other material needs are supplied and the unit at Askham Graange has a nursery equipped for older children.

Women with young babies are generally allowed to bring them with them into a mother and baby unit on sentence, subject to the availability of places. But priority is given to women who will give birth to children during their sentence. and arrangements are made for those who wish to do so to keep their babies with them. The units at the closed prisons at Holloway and Styal are unable to make satisfactory provision for children much beyond the age of 12 months, and unless the mother is suitable for transfer to open conditions at Askham Grange—where the mother and baby unit is suitable for children up to 3 years old—arrangements are made by the prison welfare department, in consultation with the mother and outside social agencies, for children who reach this age to be cared for by the mother's relatives or friends, or under arrangements made by a local authority.

The main categories of offences commited by the 26 mothers in custody on 17th November were theft, burglary, deception and robbery.