Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of female prisoners.

We are committed to making sure that as many women as possible are effectively rehabilitated in the community, to better protect the public and deliver better outcomes for female offenders and their families. We have committed to producing a Female Offender Strategy, which will set out how we can do more in the community so custody is only used when absolutely necessary.