Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies on the implementation of the Female Offender Strategy of the analysis of imprisonment rates for women in 2019 by police service area, published by the Prison Reform Trust on 10 December 2020.

The number of adult women in custody has fallen by 23% in the last ten years (June 2010 to June 2020). However, with the introduction of an additional 20,000 police officers, we expect to see an increase in the prison population, including for women.

As set out in our Female Offender Strategy (2018), we know that many women can be better supported in the community on robust and effective community sentences, and we are working to divert women away from custody, where appropriate.

We announced in May 2020 that our first residential women’s centre will be located in Wales. This will provide accommodation for vulnerable women with complex needs who would otherwise be sentenced to custody, enabling them to stay closer to home and maintain important family ties. The RWC will provide interventions that directly tackle the issues which often underlie offending, such as substance misuse or poor mental health.

The Government’s White Paper, A Smarter Approach to Sentencing (September 2020) sets out our further plans for more effective community sentencing that responds to the underlying drivers of offending. We will support offenders to change their lifestyles for good and protect the public by better identifying individual needs, providing treatment options where appropriate, and utilising technology to drive compliance. Underpinning these measures, will be our ongoing probation reform, to deliver effective, tailored and responsive supervision of offenders in the community.