Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Female Offenders Strategy, published on 27 June 2018, what his Department's timeline is for meeting the objective of reducing the women's prison population.

The publication of the Female Offender Strategy in June 2018 was the start of a new and significant programme of work to deliver better outcomes for female offenders. There was no deadline attached to delivering the Strategy when it was published and we have always been clear that it will take several years to deliver its objectives, including reducing the women’s prison population.

In June 2018, the female prison population was 3,803. This had reduced by 16% to 3,196 by June 2021, although it is likely that the impact of the pandemic will be responsible for some of this reduction. As of October 2021, there were 3,227 women in prison.