Asked by Baroness Burt of Solihull To ask Her Majesty’s
Government how they will ensure that provision for women in the
prison system is properly funded, following their decision to
abandon plans for five community prisons for women in England and
Wales. The Advocate-General for Scotland (Lord Keen of Elie)
(Con) My Lords, I can confirm that there...Request free trial
Asked by
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To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they will ensure that
provision for women in the prison system is properly
funded, following their decision to abandon plans for five
community prisons for women in England and Wales.
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The Advocate-General for Scotland (Lord Keen of Elie)
(Con)
My Lords, I can confirm that there are no plans to reduce
funding for the women’s custodial estate. We want to
provide the best rehabilitative regimes possible which are
specifically tailored to women’s needs to break the
reoffending cycle. We are also increasing the number of
front-line prison staff, designing a new offender
management and custody model tailored to the needs of women
and continually improving standards in our prisons.
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(LD)
My Lords, this move is very welcome, but can the Minister
elucidate? This initiative is costing only £5 million for
the initial investment, as opposed to the £50 million that
building five new prisons would have entailed, the balance
being returned to the Treasury. What is the timetable for
building each of these residential centres and how many
women will be accommodated initially? If the pilots are
successful, how many centres will be built? Finally, will
the Minister assure the House that funding will be found to
roll out this programme throughout England and Wales, so
that we can stop locking women up in prison for minor
offences and start tackling the underlying reasons why most
of them end up in prison in the first place?
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My Lords, we are of course concerned to address short
custodial sentences and the viability of moving towards
community-based sentences. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady
Burt, for acknowledging that this is a move in the right
direction. I should perhaps clarify that the £5 million
that has been referred to will be used for our work with
partners in the community for community-based resolution
for women. In addition, we are providing for a women’s
centres pilot which will involve five residential women’s
centres, but that budget is distinct from the £5 million. I
hope I have made that clear. I cannot give a precise
timescale for the rolling out of that pilot, but we do have
it in course.
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(Lab)
My Lords, I, too, welcome the fact that the Government have
abandoned their prison building programme in favour of
women’s community centres. That is certainly better than
anything that happened under the coalition. However, I
point out to the Minister that in 2017 one-quarter of the
women sentenced to prison were serving sentences of less
than one month, and 217 women were sentenced to less than
two weeks. What action are the Government going to take to
stop magistrates imposing these ludicrous sentences?
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I am obliged to the noble Baroness. One has to bear in mind
that there are instances in which custody is the only
appropriate resolution, even in the case of women
offenders, but of course we want to minimise that. At the
moment, we have brought down the female prison population
from a high during the Labour Government of 5.4% to a
current figure of 4.6%. We appreciate that a large
proportion of them are serving short custodial sentences.
The figures I have indicate that in 2017, 72% of custodial
sentences for women were six months or less, and that is an
issue that we do wish to address.
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(CB)
My Lords, will the Minister reflect for a moment on why the
number of community sentences given to women has fallen by
half over the last decade? Will he reflect also on the
level of mental health issues among women? They are said to
be five times more likely among women in prisons than in
the general population.
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My Lords, there are issues that arise more frequently and
more obviously among female offenders. Indeed, to quote
just a few of the figures, 60% of female offenders who have
an assessment have experienced domestic violence, while
drug misuse is identified in about 40% of cases and alcohol
misuse in about 25%. These issues therefore arise more
particularly within the female cohort of offenders. With
regard to community orders, it is part of our task to
reinvigorate their use, which will involve us in persuading
the courts at all levels of the practicality and
effectiveness of such sentences.
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The Lord
My Lords, I am grateful that Her Majesty’s Government do
not intend to open new women’s prisons, as has been said,
and I am grateful for the assurance that more money will be
put into women’s centres. However, what work will be done
to ensure that those who sentence know what is actually
available in the community?
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My Lords, I am confident that the sentencing guidelines,
and judicial guidelines in general, are sufficient to
inform all levels of the judiciary as to the appropriate
way in which to treat sentencing provision. Indeed, there
is further guidance on this in England and Wales, which the
noble Lord at the back may not be familiar with.
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(Lab)
The right reverend Prelate is also shaking her head.
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Looking in this direction, I can only see the noble Lord’s
head shaking. However, it might not be in disagreement;
maybe it is an affliction, and I apologise. With regard to
sentencing, there are clear guidelines, which include
guidelines from the Court of Appeal over sentencing where
there is an impact on children and other dependants.
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(Con)
My Lords, is my noble and learned friend satisfied with the
arrangements for looking after the most elderly prisoners,
who, although small in number, need special facilities?
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I am obliged to my noble friend. There is an issue of an
ageing prison population, and that is addressed in our
management provision for prisoners in custody.
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I do not know whether the Minister is aware that although
there are guidelines, they do not seem to be getting through
to a number of judges. I have been told anecdotally of judges
who do not know about the community centres for women.
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I am not aware of the noble and learned Baroness’s source of
information in that regard, but clearly, we need to ensure
that these guidelines are properly understood at every level
of the judiciary.
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