Female Offenders

Simon Hughes Excerpts

Thursday 27th March 2014 Written Statements

[The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (Simon Hughes)]

As promised during Parliamentary passage of the Courts and Crime Act 2013, I am today publishing an update on the progress that has been made in delivering the Government’s strategic objectives for female offenders, which we published a year ago. These set out our intention to make sure that:

there are robust and effective sentencing options in the community;

services in the community address the specific needs of female offenders, where these differ from those of male offenders;

the women’s custodial estate is tailored to their needs; and

the transforming rehabilitation reforms support better life management to reduce women’s reoffending.

In the last year we have established a Minister-led advisory board on female offenders which brings together key stakeholders, criminal justice partners and senior officials across Government to provide expert support and challenge as we deliver our strategic objectives for female offenders. The board met formally four times last year and also held workshops with a focus on the women’s custodial estate reconfiguration and guidance for future service providers under our transforming rehabilitation reforms.

In October 2013, we published our response to the Justice Select Committee report, “Women Offenders: After the Corston Report” together with a review of the women’s custodial estate and a stocktake of community services available for female offenders.

Following the women’s custodial estate review, we have established a new dedicated team to oversee the care and supervision of a small number of women with complex needs in custody which aims to guarantee that these women benefit from the most appropriate interventions and regimes available for their particular needs.

In addition, we have put in place safeguards to make sure that the gender-specific needs of women are provided for as part of the transforming rehabilitation reforms. This included an amendment to the now Offender Rehabilitation Act 2014 to make sure that contracts with future providers under transforming rehabilitation identify specific provision to meet the particular needs of female offenders. We have made available guidance to steer providers so that they understand the gender-specific needs of women. We have written into contracts that providers should give female offenders the option, where practicable, of a female-only interview space, female-only supervisors and not to be the only woman in an all male unpaid work group or attendance centre group.

In addition, I am pleased to announce today that, in partnership with the Clink Charity, we are going to expand the employment opportunities which we provide to female offenders. Subject to planning permission, we will open a restaurant at HMP/YOI Styal. Here, offenders will be employed to prepare and serve the food while working towards accreditation which is recognised in the industry. The restaurant will be run by the Clink Charity, which has successful restaurants already established in the men’s estate—at HMPs High Down, Cardiff and Brixton. A disused chapel has been identified as a suitable building for the restaurant within the grounds of HMP/YOI Styal and we are looking forward to opening the doors of the restaurant to the public in spring 2015. The Clink Charity and HMP Send are also developing a horticultural training project where the female prisoners will be growing speciality vegetables and salad. Starting in May 2014, the project will employ 20 women who will be trained to gain their NVQ City and Guilds qualifications in horticulture. The produce will be used within the Clink restaurants at HMP High Down and HMP Brixton.

Over coming months, we will continue to look at how we can create a better resettlement system for female prisoners which will help all those who want to do so, to serve their sentence as close as possible to where they will live on release which will increase opportunities to establish resettlement links with their local communities. With criminal justice partners in Greater Manchester we will continue to develop a new approach to female offenders in the criminal justice system which will refer women into community services at the earliest opportunity. We believe this model of working with female offenders can be extended to other parts of the country and we are supporting colleagues in Wales in developing a version of this work. To support this we will also continue to spread awareness of the gender specific needs of female offenders among criminal justice partners, including the development of a DVD in conjunction with the advisory board for circulation amongst police, judiciary and other front-line practitioners within the criminal justice system.

In the year ahead, we will continue to deliver our strategic objectives through the transforming rehabilitation programme. We will establish, throughout England and Wales, sustainable rehabilitation services appropriate for women in the community. We will also deliver changes to the custodial estate and, in particular, develop new open accommodation units at HM/YOIs Drake Hall and Styal and improve employment opportunities for female offenders across the estate.

We will improve opportunities for female prisoners to maintain important links with their families. We will continue to explore ways in which local police, courts and community services can work together to reduce the need for custodial solutions for female offenders. We will work with other Government Departments to make sure that more women find suitable housing at the time of their release. We will also work to understand better the drivers and solutions for women at risk of offending, including in particular those who engage in acquisitive crime and who may be under serious financial strain.

The full update can be found at: Advisory Board on Female Offenders—Policy advisory groups—gov.uk and copies have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.