Prisoners: Parents

(asked on 8th April 2019) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department holds data on the number of prisoners who have had one or both parents sentenced to custody in the past.


Answered by
Lucy Frazer Portrait
Lucy Frazer
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
This question was answered on 16th April 2019

Strengthening the ties individuals have with their families and friends is not only important in reducing an individual’s likelihood of reoffending, it can also contribute to reducing the prospect of intergenerational offending by their children.

We do not collect data on the number of prisoners who have had one or both parents sentenced to a period in custody, but previous research has shown that 65% of boys who had a parent who was an offender went on to be offenders themselves.

In September 2016, Lord Farmer was commissioned by the then Secretary of State to undertake a review focusing on the importance of family engagement to reduce reoffending, to improve the quality of interventions delivered within prisons and to prevent intergenerational crime as part of prison reform.

The Farmer report, ‘The Importance of Strengthening Prisoners’ Family Ties to Prevent Reoffending and Reduce Intergenerational Crime’ was published on 10 August 2017, making recommendations designed to improve and standardise the provision of family services across the prison estate.

Recommendations from the report are being implemented and the Department publishes regular progress updates through the National Information Centre on the Children of Offenders website.

Reticulating Splines