Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many women were sentenced to prison for less than (a) one month, (b) three months and (c) six months in the first six months of 2018 by Home Office offence code.

The total number of offenders sentenced to immediate custody from January to June 2018 for (a) less than 1 month, (b) 1 month to less than 3 months and (c) 3 months to 6 months, broken down by Home Office offence code, can be viewed in Table 1.

Table 2 and Table 3 break this information down by men and women respectively.

Sentencing is a matter for our independent courts, who take into account all circumstances of the case, including any aggravating and mitigating factors.

Whilst there is persuasive evidence that short custodial sentences do not help some offenders turn their backs on crime, protecting the public will always be our top priority. Under this government, the most serious offenders are more likely to go to prison, and for longer, helping protect the public and keep communities safe.

Our message is simple – if you commit a serious offence, you should expect to go to prison. We will not reduce the prison population just to save money.