Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their latest assessment of the effects of imprisonment for short sentences of less than six months on family relationships.

Strengthening the ties individuals have with their families and friends is an important factor in reducing reoffending. While we have not undertaken a formal assessment of the effects of short prison sentences on family relationships, we know that custody more generally can have an impact on family engagement.

We are considering options to restrict the use of short custodial sentences, but we have not at this stage reached any conclusions. There is persuasive evidence showing community sentences, in certain circumstances, are more effective than short custodial sentences in reducing reoffending. The MoJ study ‘The impact of short custodial sentences, community orders and suspended sentence orders on re-offending’ published in 2015 found that over a 1-year follow up period, a higher proportion of people re-offended having been sentenced to custody of under 12 months without supervision on release than other similar people given community orders.