Asked by: Kate Green (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he has taken to (a) disseminate and (b) monitor the implementation of the police guidance entitled Managing vulnerability: women, fact pack.
Answered by Edward Argar
In June 2018, the Government published its Female Offender Strategy which set out the vision to see fewer women coming into the criminal justice system, a greater proportion managed successfully in the community, and better conditions for those in custody. To support these aims, the Government, together with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), also published guidance for the police on working with vulnerable women.
The NPCC shared the police guidance with chief officers, for dissemination within their forces and the APCC have circulated the guidance to all Police and Crime Commissioners. The MoJ will work with the APCC and NPCC to evaluate the impact of the guidance and consider any next steps.
Asked by: Kate Green (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of progress in reducing the women’s prison population since June 2018 publication of the Female Offender Strategy; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Edward Argar
In the Female Offender Strategy, we set out our vision to see fewer women in custody, particularly on short custodial sentences and to see more women supported in the community. The strategy launched an ambitious programme of work which will take several years to deliver. So far, we have published a new Women’s Policy Framework, Lord Farmer’s Review for Women and invested £5m to support community provision for female offenders and women at risk of offending
We are committed to monitoring progress over time and taking action to deliver the outcomes we set out to achieve. The latest published statistics show that the total female prison population increased slightly (by 1%) between March 2018 and 2019, but that female first receptions have decreased by 10% over the past year, (from 2,036 between October and December 2017 to 1,840 over the same period in 2018).
The published data setting out the current and previous female prison population can be accessed here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/796904/population-31-march-2019.ods
Asked by: Kate Green (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many incidents have there been of pregnant women being transported in cellular vehicles since the introduction of the Women’s Policy Framework in December 2018.
Answered by Edward Argar
The Prisoner Escort and Custody Services (PECS) contract is specifically designed for the movement of prisoners in cellular vehicles that meets MOJ standards.
A total of 191 pregnant women have been transported since December 2018, with 1 being moved by a cellular vehicle because she did not declare her pregnancy before the move.
Below is a table showing the number of instances when both women and men have been transported in the same vehicle. PECS contracts include a Contract Delivery Indicator which requires women to be separated from men for at least 97% of all journeys made. The current national performance is 99.93% of total journeys made.
Year | Number of instances OF failure to separate females |
2014 | 297 |
2015 | 226 |
2016 | 262 |
2017 | 81 |
2018 | 5 |
2019 YTD | 5 |
Contracts also include a requirement that individuals should not remain on a cellular, or any other vehicle, overnight and there have been no instances where women have been held in such circumstances.
Private providers continue to play an important role in the prison estate. We will continue to closely the performance of all providers and we will not hesitate to take action where
standards fall short.
Asked by: Kate Green (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many instances there have been of women being transported to prison in the same prison transport vehicle as men in each of the last five years.
Answered by Edward Argar
The Prisoner Escort and Custody Services (PECS) contract is specifically designed for the movement of prisoners in cellular vehicles that meets MOJ standards.
A total of 191 pregnant women have been transported since December 2018, with 1 being moved by a cellular vehicle because she did not declare her pregnancy before the move.
Below is a table showing the number of instances when both women and men have been transported in the same vehicle. PECS contracts include a Contract Delivery Indicator which requires women to be separated from men for at least 97% of all journeys made. The current national performance is 99.93% of total journeys made.
Year | Number of instances OF failure to separate females |
2014 | 297 |
2015 | 226 |
2016 | 262 |
2017 | 81 |
2018 | 5 |
2019 YTD | 5 |
Contracts also include a requirement that individuals should not remain on a cellular, or any other vehicle, overnight and there have been no instances where women have been held in such circumstances.
Private providers continue to play an important role in the prison estate. We will continue to closely the performance of all providers and we will not hesitate to take action where
standards fall short.
Asked by: Kate Green (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service prison transport contract specifies that women and men should be transported to prison separately.
Answered by Edward Argar
The Prisoner Escort and Custody Services (PECS) contract is specifically designed for the movement of prisoners in cellular vehicles that meets MOJ standards.
A total of 191 pregnant women have been transported since December 2018, with 1 being moved by a cellular vehicle because she did not declare her pregnancy before the move.
Below is a table showing the number of instances when both women and men have been transported in the same vehicle. PECS contracts include a Contract Delivery Indicator which requires women to be separated from men for at least 97% of all journeys made. The current national performance is 99.93% of total journeys made.
Year | Number of instances OF failure to separate females |
2014 | 297 |
2015 | 226 |
2016 | 262 |
2017 | 81 |
2018 | 5 |
2019 YTD | 5 |
Contracts also include a requirement that individuals should not remain on a cellular, or any other vehicle, overnight and there have been no instances where women have been held in such circumstances.
Private providers continue to play an important role in the prison estate. We will continue to closely the performance of all providers and we will not hesitate to take action where
standards fall short.
Asked by: Kate Green (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many incidents there have been of women being held in a cellular vehicle overnight until prison reception opens in the last 12 months.
Answered by Edward Argar
The Prisoner Escort and Custody Services (PECS) contract is specifically designed for the movement of prisoners in cellular vehicles that meets MOJ standards.
A total of 191 pregnant women have been transported since December 2018, with 1 being moved by a cellular vehicle because she did not declare her pregnancy before the move.
Below is a table showing the number of instances when both women and men have been transported in the same vehicle. PECS contracts include a Contract Delivery Indicator which requires women to be separated from men for at least 97% of all journeys made. The current national performance is 99.93% of total journeys made.
Year | Number of instances OF failure to separate females |
2014 | 297 |
2015 | 226 |
2016 | 262 |
2017 | 81 |
2018 | 5 |
2019 YTD | 5 |
Contracts also include a requirement that individuals should not remain on a cellular, or any other vehicle, overnight and there have been no instances where women have been held in such circumstances.
Private providers continue to play an important role in the prison estate. We will continue to closely the performance of all providers and we will not hesitate to take action where
standards fall short.