Prisons: Women with Dependants
Debate between Lord Bishop of Lincoln and Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Baroness Vere of Norbiton
My noble friend raises a number of complex issues. I shall address the issue of TV licences because this is very important: 109,000 women are given a fine for not paying their TV licence, versus 42,000 men. It is not the case that they are then put in prison for not paying the TV licence; that happens occasionally if they do not pay the fine, and many poor decisions have to be taken in order for them to go to prison. I agree, though, that it is wrong that more women than men are being given fines for this offence, and we know that the BBC will be updating the Public Accounts Committee on this issue very soon.
The Lord Bishop of Ely
My Lords, the Ministry of Justice has produced clear evidence that women’s centres are effective at reducing reoffending, provide joined-up community services to support physical and mental health needs and give more opportunities to women to have access to their children. What assessment does the Minister make of the need for increased funding to sustain and open more women’s centres?
Baroness Vere of Norbiton
My Lords, women’s centres and women’s services in general play an incredibly important role in supporting female offenders, many of whom have hugely complex needs. Over 50% of female offenders were abused as children and 60% experience domestic abuse in their lifetime. I think noble Lords will all agree that female offenders are on average potentially more complex than male offenders and need a wide variety of well-funded support.
Slavery and Human Trafficking Statements
Debate between Lord Bishop of Lincoln and Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Baroness Vere of Norbiton
As I am sure the noble and learned Baroness already knows, two NGOs are very interested in this: the TISC Report and the Modern Slavery Registry. We will of course continue to review whether we need a third website, but for the time being we are pleased with where we are.
The Lord Bishop of Ely
My Lords, tomorrow the Church of England launches the Clewer Initiative to raise awareness of modern slavery both locally and regionally. Does the Minister agree that such awareness-raising campaigns have a vital role in encouraging the public to hold businesses to account?
Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The right reverend Prelate is absolutely right. As I just said to the noble and learned Baroness, awareness is absolutely critical. What astonished me—as it would many other noble Lords, I am sure—is that 10 years ago we simply were not talking about modern slavery, but now we are. Now we have a Conservative Prime Minister who has said:
“This is the greatest human rights issue of our time”.
When it comes to engagement and awareness, consumers are as important as everybody else. We can question the brands that we buy from and we can take care to spot signs of abuse of when we see them.