Crime: Domestic Violence

Debate between Baroness Northover and Baroness Corston

Thursday 14th February 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Corston]

My Lords, is the Minister aware that domestic violence is a major cause of women in this country ending up in prison? With which organisations in this country are the Government working to eradicate this drastic harm to all these lives?

[Baroness Northover]

I am well aware of the importance of domestic violence in bringing about women being in prison, and all the other challenges that women in prison face. We are very keen to carry forward the work that the noble Baroness did to try to ensure that we address the reasons why women end up in prison, which is often not in their interests or those of the family. We are working across the board with a number of different organisations. I myself have been at various meetings where these organisations have put their case, which is a very cogent one. We will continue to do that. Anything that the noble Baroness wishes to feed in to me, I would be very happy to receive.

Prisons: Mothers and Infants

Debate between Baroness Northover and Baroness Corston

Tuesday 10th July 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Northover]

The right reverend Prelate is right that prisons of any description can be very depressing places, as is seeing the situation of people within them. However, I have visited the mother and baby unit within Holloway prison. If mothers are sentenced to prison, they need to be extremely well supported, and I thought that the support being given in that mother and baby unit was very good. Within the prison, too, the support in terms of mental health, tackling drug addiction and other problems was being approached. It is extremely important that we do what we can to try to keep women out of custody. The legal changes made in the last Bill help to move us in that direction and that is one of our aims, because the right reverend Prelate is right that many people in this situation are themselves very vulnerable.

[Baroness Corston]

My Lords, given that most of these women are imprisoned for offences for which no male would be locked up, and given that, as the Minister said, there are seven mother and baby units in this country, would she acknowledge that that small number indicates that, for many of these women, if they have other children, they have to make the stark choice between applying for a place at a unit and keeping their baby but losing contact with their other children, or giving the baby up at a time when they are probably breastfeeding so that they can remain in contact with their other children? Finally, will she acknowledge that there is overwhelming public support in this country for the proposition that women who commit non-violent offences and who are mothers of small children should not be locked up at all?

[Baroness Northover]

I pay tribute to the noble Baroness for all her work in this area, which shifted the last Labour Government enormously in terms of what they did. We are building on that work. As I mentioned, one of the changes in the last justice Bill, LASPO, says, for example, that if it is unlikely that somebody is going to have a custodial sentence, they are not remanded in prison. That should help women who find themselves in that situation. Similarly, there has been a turning around of what happens if somebody breaches their community order. It was mandatory before that that should be escalated, which often meant that women in that circumstance ended up in prison. What is suggested now is that there should be a fine—and that, too, should divert women away from prison. There are a number of ways in which it is extremely important to approach this to try to ensure that women are kept out of prison when that is appropriate, but to ensure that they are well supported if they are in prison.