§ Paul FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his estimate is of the proportion of female prisoners who will be(a) offenders in respect of cannabis, (b) class A drug offenders and (c) housed in hospital wings in each of the next five years. [90269]
§ Hilary BennThere are no estimates of the proportion of female prisoners who will be(a) offenders in respect of cannabis, (b) class A drug offenders and (c) housed in hospital wings in each of the next five years.
At the end of October 2002, the female sentenced population for drugs offences was 1,314 (39 per cent. of the total sentenced female population), and the female remand population for drugs offences was 179 (18 per cent. of the total remand female population).
The total number of women prisoners recorded by establishments as having been admitted to prison health care centres between June and September 2002, the last quarter for which statistics are available, was 1,225.
§ Paul FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of female prisoners are mothers to children aged under l0 years. [90272]
§ Hilary BennThere is no routinely collected data on the proportion of female prisoners who have dependent children, irrespective of age group. However, a Home Office study of a large sample of imprisoned women ands mothers, published in 1997, found that 60 per cent. of female prisoners, sentenced and unsentenced, had dependent children under the age of 18. (There were no research findings relating specifically to children under 10). Another smaller, but more recent, study of women prisoners and their work in custody, published in 2000, found broadly similar results (out of a sample of 567 sentenced women, 66 per cent. had dependent children under the age of 18).
§ Mrs. BrookeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many mothers with responsibility for children were serving sentences in prisons in England and Wales for the period January 1992 to December 2002, broken down by prison and what estimate he has made of the numbers of mothers 181W with children who will be serving sentences in prisons in England and Wales for the period January 2003 to December 2013. [90488]
§ Hilary BennThere is no routinely collected data on the number or proportion of female prisoners who have dependent children (nor are there any projections of such numbers for future years). However, a Home Office study of a large sample of imprisoned women and mothers, published in 1997, found that 60 per cent. of female prisoners had dependent children under the age of 18. Another smaller but more recent study of women prisoners and their work in custody, published in 2000, found broadly similar results (out of a sample of 567 sentenced women, 66 per cent had dependent children under the age of 18).
§ Mrs. BrookeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures are being taken by his Department to ensure a decrease in the numbers of mothers with children serving sentences in prisons in England and Wales. [90489]
§ Hilary BennThe increase in the female prison population, and the wider consequences of this in terms of disrupting families and the lives of children, supports the need to respond specifically to the particular needs and characteristics of women offenders if there is to be a reduction in offending by women and the numbers ending up in custody with child-care responsibilities.
We are taking forward the 'Women's Offending Reduction Programme' over the next three years to respond to the range of factors that have an impact on why women offend, and encourages joint working between departments, agencies and other organisations to tackle those factors. A primary focus will be on improving community-based interventions that are better tailored to the needs of women. Childcare facilities in the community, is one of the issues being looked at. Greater use of such interventions will be encouraged to ensure that custody is only used for women offenders who really need to be there.
§ Mrs. BrookeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many mothers in prisons in England and Wales have responsibility for babies (a) under nine months old and (b) under 18 months old. [90490]
§ Hilary BennOn 6 January 2003, there were 34 mothers in Prison Service mother and baby units with babies under nine months old and 16 mothers with babies between nine and 18 months old.
§ Paul FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women prisoners who were addicts of(a) heroin and (b) cocaine continued their habits after serving their sentences in each of the last five years; and what proportion died from drugs misuse in the 12 month period after leaving prison. [90266]
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§ Hilary BennThere is no routinely collected data on the proportion of female prisoners who were addicts of heroin or cocaine and who continued their habit after their sentences. However, the Home Office has commissioned the Office for National Statistics to examine the extent and causes of drug-related mortality among prisoners recently released from prison in England and Wales. The findings, which are due to be published later this quarter, will examine mortality rates among a sample of the general ex-prisoner population (though mainly not differentiating between males and females).
§ Paul FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to introduce reforms to assist women prisoners through(a) improved accommodation and (b) delaying sentencing orders. [90249]
§ Hilary BennHelping women leaving prison to find appropriate accommodation is one of the key factors in effective resettlement, and we are continuing to improve the range of housing advice available in women's prisons, including prisoner-led schemes. Alongside employment, improving accommodation outcomes for released prisoners forms part of the Prison Service's Custody to Work initiative, in which we are investing £14.5 million a year from April 2003. A proportion of this will be allocated shortly to the women's estate and will be available to support the further development of housing advice services. We have no plans to allow courts generally to defer commencement of sentences, but the new sentence of intermittent custody planned in the Criminal Justice Bill will enable offenders to maintain activities, such as child care, while serving their prison time during certain parts of the week. Additionally, although intermittent custody begins immediately it is imposed by the court, the court can defer the first custodial period. This would enable the offender to make child care arrangements.
§ Paul FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the most recent per capita figures are for the use of neuroleptic drugs in each women's prison; and what percentage of prisoners in each women's prison are users, at least weekly, of(a) tranquillisers and (b) pain killers. [90271]
§ Hilary BennThis information is not available in the form requested. A survey of mental ill health in the prison population of England and Wales, undertaken in 1997 by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), showed that 26 per cent. of women prisoners were taking painkillers, 16 per cent. hypnotic and anxiolytic medication and 10 per cent. anti-psychotic medication.