§ Dr. Lynne JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women either had children when they were sentenced to prison or have given birth in prison in the past three years; and if he will list the crimes for which they were sentenced.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Ms Lynne Jones, dated 28 November 1994:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the number of women who either have children when they are sentenced to prison or who have given birth in prison in the past three years and the crimes for which they were sentenced.Information on the numbers of mothers in custody is not routinely collected by the Prison Service. Instead such information has been collected by conducting surveys of female prisoners, concentrating in particular on those who are mothers. Such censuses were carried out in 1982, 1986 and 1989. I enclose the results of the 1989 census, a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House.The Home Office Research and Planning Unit has recently commissioned a census of mothers in prison. This was launched earlier this month, following a successful pilot study, and will cover all women in prison, including those on remand. The results are expected in the New Year.Our records show the number of women temporarily removed to outside hospital for delivery and returning to establishments afterwards. The figures for the past three years are:
- 1990–91 65
- 1991–92 56
- 1992–93 29
There is no record of births having taken place in establishments in recent years.I regret that the information on the crimes for which the mothers were sentenced is not available.