Oral Answers to Questions

Fiona Bruce Excerpts

Tuesday 5th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[Edward Argar]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising that specific case and I am very happy to meet him.

[Fiona Bruce (Congleton) (Con)]

12. What progress the Government have made on implementing the recommendations of the Farmer review, published in August 2017.

[The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (Rory Stewart)]

I pay tribute to Lord Farmer for this review. We have accepted all its recommendations and have implemented more than half of them. I meet Lord Farmer very regularly, most recently last Sunday, because we realise that good family ties can reduce reoffending by 37%.

[Fiona Bruce]

Women prisoners face particular difficulties when parted from their families—as do their families. What consideration has been given to this issue?

[Rory Stewart]

The specific issue raised by my hon. Friend relates to women in the criminal justice system, many of whom are the primary care givers. So putting those women in prison has a very serious impact on their children, many of whom, unfortunately, then go on to commit crime themselves. We have therefore commissioned Lord Farmer to do a review looking specifically at the family ties of women.