§ Mr. GrocottTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many places there are in each of the three prison mother and baby units.
§ Mr. MellorThe three prison mother and baby units provide accommodation for a total of 39 mothers with their babies. Her Majesty's prison Holloway and Her Majesty's prison and young offender institution Styal each has 12 places and Her Majesty's prison Askham Grange has 15 places.
§ Mr. GrocottTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many babies were in each of the three prison mother and baby units on the most recent available date; and what were their ages.
§ Mr. MellorOn 23 May 1990 there were a total of 30 babies in the three prison mother and baby units. The number and ages of the babies in each unit is as follows:
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Holloway Styal Askham Grange Aged under one month 1 1 1 Aged 1–2 months — 2 1 Aged 2–3 months — 1 — Aged 3–4 months 1 3 1 Aged 4–5 months 1 — — Aged 6–7 months 1 — 2 Aged 7–8 months 2 — 4 Aged 9–10 months 1 1 1 Aged 11–12 months — — 2 Aged 12–13 months — — 1 Aged 13–14 months — — 2 Total number of babies in each unit 7 8 15
§ Mr. GrocottTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give a breakdown of the offences committed by women who spent time in prison mother and baby units during 1989.
§ Mr. MellorDuring 1989, a total of 101 women served all or part of their sentence with their babies in the prison mother and baby units. Of these, 34 had been convicted of offences of theft or fraud; 33 had been convicted of drugs offences; 12 had been convicted of offences of violence against the person; eight had been convicted of burglary offences; eight had been convicted of robbery offences; six had been convicted of other indictable offences.
Where a woman had been received on sentence for several offences, only the principal criminal offence has been stated.