Lord Actonasked Her Majesty's Government:
In the light of the report in the Observer of 14 March that all women prisoners in Winchester and St Edmunds Hill prisons are to be moved into other prisons and replaced by men prisoners, what steps are they taking to reduce the number of women prisoners. [HL1907]
§ Baroness Scotland of AsthalThe Women's Offending Reduction Programme (the programme), published on 11 March 2004, is a three-year programme of work that aims to promote a more specific and joined up response to the range of factors that have an impact on why women offend. In order to reduce the number of women in custody and increase the potential for diversion, the programme will focus on improving sentencers' confidence in community disposals that offer appropriate packages and interventions and are better tailored to meet the particular needs of women offenders, including those with mental health and substance misuse problems. The programme includes, for example, the development of women specific community-based interventions such as the "Real Women" offending behaviour programme. We are also taking action to strengthen bail information systems with women's prisons.
New sentencing powers contained in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 will allow offenders serving short custodial sentences to focus their work in the community, enabling them to maintain family ties and employment. The new generic community sentence may encourage the greater use of community disposals as the courts will be able to tailor the package of programmes and interventions to the particular needs of the individual offender.
Furthermore in the longer term, the new National Offender Management Service will place an emphasis on the greater use of community sentences for lower-risk offenders and reserve custody for only the most serious, dangerous and highly persistent offenders.