Oral Answers to Questions

Vikki Slade Excerpts

Tuesday 11th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Shabana Mahmood]

I notice that in all his references to letters, the shadow Lord Chancellor did not refer to the letter from the previous sentencing Minister, now the shadow Transport Secretary, who welcomed those guidelines. He knows full well that that was a reference to the guidelines around race, ethnicity and cultural background.

[Vikki Slade (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (LD)]

T2. The Government’s statistics on women in the criminal justice system show that women are more often prosecuted for much more minor offences and suffer from short prison sentences, which have huge social and emotional effects on their children and increase their likelihood of being taken into care. What steps is the Department taking to continue delivering the female offender strategy delivery plan for 2022 to 2025 and to reach beyond it, thinking about the negative impacts on the children of offenders?

[Shabana Mahmood]

The hon. Lady raises an important point. That is why I set up the Women’s Justice Board specifically to make recommendations—I believe that these are policy choices that are properly made by directly elected politicians. We will make progress on the situation of women in our prisons, particularly those who are mothers, because we know that the harm passes down generations, and we are determined to stop it.