Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for its policies of the NAO's finding in the report, Improving outcomes for women in the criminal justice system, that there has been little progress on securing and expanding community alternatives to prison for women.

Since the Female Offender Strategy was published in 2018 with the aim of steering women away from crime, the number of women entering the criminal justice system for the first time has fallen by 30%.

We are investing tens of millions of pounds over the next three years into community services like women centres, drug rehabilitation and accommodation support so fewer women end up in prison. We are piloting Residential Women’s Centres, offering an intensive residential support package in the community for women at risk of short custodial sentences.