§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made with research into the age limit for children remaining with mothers serving terms of imprisonment; what the membership of the working group conducting the research is; what the size of the sample used in the research is; what methods are being employed; and when he expects to publish the results. [147468]
§ Mr. BoatengA pilot study is to be set up which will assess the benefits and drawbacks of children remaining in prison with their mothers beyond the current age limit of 18 months. The anticipated start date of the pilot is 1 June 2001. The Steering Group is chaired jointly by the Head of Prison Service Women's Policy Group and the Operational Manager for Women's Prisons. It includes members from the four prison Mother and Baby Units, Social Services, Social Services Inspectorate, Association of Chief Officers of Probation, Prison Service Health Policy Unit and a number of experts on child health care, including a child psychologist and a child psychiatrist. The Steering Group will decide on the size of the sample, the method of evaluation and the length of the pilot. The results of the pilot will be published on completion.
§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of women sentenced to immediate imprisonment have no previous convictions; and if he will give a breakdown of the type of offences(a) such women and (b) all women sentenced to imprisonment have committed in the latest year for which figures are available. [147467]
80W
§ Mr. BoatengProvisional information shows that in December 2000 there were 628 women in the prison population of England and Wales that had been sentenced to immediate imprisonment.
Information on the number of women in prison in England and Wales, and which types of crimes they have committed is given in the table. This information is also published in successive volumes of "Prison Statistics England and Wales" (chapter one of the 1999 edition, Cm 4805), copies of which are in the Library.
Number of women received into prisons throughout England and Wales in 2000 broken down by offence type and custody Offence group Sentenced women received under immediate custody All sentenced imprisoned women Violence against the person 94 345 Frauds and forgery 60 92 Theft and handling 119 316 Drug offences 208 956 Sex offences 9 23 Robbery 26 155 Burglary 23 112 Offence not recorded 36 Other offences 53 158 Total 628 2,205