Children of Prisoners
Debate between Cameron Thomas and Alex Davies-Jones(2 weeks ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Alex Davies-Jones)
I thank my friend, the right hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay (Mr Holden), for securing this important debate. He eloquently outlined why we cannot overestimate the impact of parental imprisonment on children and their families. He reeled off a lot of stats and figures, but then powerfully backed them up with the children’s stories. Behind every one of those numbers is a child.
Cameron Thomas (Tewkesbury) (LD)
On that point, I could not help but notice that the impacts felt by the children of prisoners, listed by the right hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay (Mr Holden), strikingly resembled the impacts felt by the children of deployed armed forces personnel. Does the Minister agree?
Alex Davies-Jones
I welcome that intervention. As I will explain, it is difficult for any child when a parent is taken away and is unable to be with them. As a parent, I find it really difficult to have to be away from my child for four days a week. I am sure that the hon. Member understands that the impact is in some regard immeasurable. We do not know the impact on those children but, as a Government or as a parent, we try to give them as much support as we can. When one parent is in prison, that is not always possible. This is about what we can do to provide them with that support.
Growing up with a parent in prison is incredibly tough for many children. As the right hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay outlined, it is widely recognised as an adverse childhood experience that affects not just a child’s day-to-day life, but their longer-term opportunities and outcomes. We owe it to every child with a parent in prison to ensure that that disadvantage does not become ingrained from generation to generation.
I am grateful to the organisations that have brought this important issue to the Government’s attention, including the Prison Advice and Care Trust, North Eastern Prison After Care Society and Children Heard and Seen. I also thank my hon. Friends the Members for Bristol East (Kerry McCarthy) and for Brentford and Isleworth (Ruth Cadbury), and the noble Lord Farmer.
These children may have parents in prison, but they too are locked in an invisible cell—one of separation, loss and disruption. The situation is particularly acute for children whose mothers go to jail: around three quarters leave the family home while their mam is locked up, losing not only their parent, but their school and home all at once. Many of the children are passed between family members, but some end up in care.
More broadly, research shows a range of immediate and longer-term effects on children who have parents in prison, including on their physical and mental health, and engagement at school. They are also at risk of following the same path into the criminal justice system. We have to ensure that we reach such families and get them the support they need, and in our manifesto we committed to doing just that.