Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will review sentencing for women including potential alternatives to short-term sentences for non-violent offences.

We remain committed to the vision in the Female Offender Strategy, which set out our priorities to achieve better outcomes for female offenders, including fewer women coming into the criminal justice system and fewer women in custody (especially on short-term sentences) and a greater proportion of women managed in the community successfully.

Since publication in June 2018, the number of women entering the criminal justice system has fallen by 30%. We are investing millions of pounds over the next 3 years into community services such as women’s centres, drug rehabilitation and accommodation support so fewer women end up in prison.

We also have several initiatives underway to improve community sentencing options to tackle low-level offending, divert women from custody, and reduce reoffending. This includes several pilots such as the Residential women’s centre pilot, with the first in Wales, Problem-Solving Courts for women, and a Pre-Sentence Report pilot that is targeting fuller reports for women.

Of course, where female offenders are found guilty of committing criminal offences, it is for our independent judiciary to determine the appropriate sentence in the usual way.