Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the publication of the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman’s independent investigation into the death of a baby (Baby A) at HMP Bronzefield on 27 September 2019, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of ending the use of imprisonment for pregnant women.

The death of Baby A was a tragedy and we have taken a range of actions with our partners to prevent this from happening again.

Sentencing is a matter for the independent judiciary. However, we recognise the additional challenges experienced by pregnant women in prison and we are taking steps to ensure sentencing decisions are better informed by individual circumstances and that there are viable alternatives to custody.

Since the publication of the Female Offender Strategy in 2018, we have invested around £7 million in the women’s community sector to increase sustainability, enhance services and develop new provision, with a further £2.5 million being invested this year.

We are also investing in a range of initiatives that aim to encourage use of robust community sentences including Problem Solving Courts, Community Sentence Treatment Requirements, Electronic Monitoring and a Pre-Sentence Report (PSR) pilot. Specifically, we have developed a PSR checklist for women which ensures that individual circumstances, such as pregnancy, are taken into account.