Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member printed question first answered answering member label attachment file name title
tabling member	label

Search

1332171

registered interest
date	10/06/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners' Release: Females
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support vulnerable women leaving prison by ensuring (1) access to housing, (2) access to benefits and employment, and (3) access to health services.
tabling member printed	Baroness Healy of Primrose Hill
uin	HL998
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2021 answer text <p>We are investing more than £20m in supporting prison leavers at risk of homelessness into temporary accommodation. Individuals released from prison will be provided up to 12 weeks of temporary accommodation and will be supported to secure long-term settled accommodation before the end of that 12-week period. Initially launching in five probation regions, the service will support around 3,000 offenders in its first year and will be commencing this Summer. It will be in operation during the financial year 2021-22, with a view to scaling up and rolling out nationally.</p><p>The service will take account of the needs of women, including those with complex needs, and accommodation provision will be dedicated to single gender usage as required. Community Probation Practitioners, working together with local partners, will be responsible for ensuring that vulnerable female prison leavers receive appropriate support and are provided with housing beyond the 12 weeks’ emergency accommodation.</p><p>Commissioned Rehabilitation Services are due to start delivery on 26 June 2021 which includes services to assist in accommodation; employment training and education; financial benefit and debt and personal well-being.</p><p>These provide a holistic service for all women leaving prison by providers based in the community in to which they are released. The accommodation service and mentoring service both start pre-release. The mentoring service aims to support those who lack social support in making the transition from prison to community and to assist in building social networks.</p> answering member printed Lord Wolfson of Tredegar question first answered 24/06/2021 16:13:10 answering member 4901 label Biography information for Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
tabling member	4179 label Biography information for Baroness Healy of Primrose Hill

1282231

registered interest
date	01/02/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners: Self-harm
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the report Safety in Custody Statistics, England and Wales: Deaths in Prison Custody to December 2020 Assaults and Self-harm to September 2020, published on 28 January, what steps they are taking to address the reported increase in self-harm in the female prison estate in England and Wales.
tabling member printed	Baroness Healy of Primrose Hill
uin	HL12808
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/02/2021 answer text <p>We recognise that the level of self-harm in the women’s estate is too high and are determined to reduce this. A Women’s Self-Harm Task Force was set up in April 2020 in response to our increasing concerns about the level of self-harm in the Women’s estate. We know that many of the drivers (risks and triggers) and protective factors linked to women’s risk of self-harm in prisons have been adversely affected by Covid-19 and the restricted regimes that have been put in place to control the spread of infection.</p><p> </p><p>The Task Force has led work to introduce a number of specific interventions to counteract the impact of Covid-19 on self-harm in the Women’s estate. This work has seen the introduction of bespoke well-being checks, increased credit to enable phone calls and increased access to Purple Visits (video calls with family and friends).</p><p> </p><p>We have prioritised the roll out of the revised version of the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) multi-disciplinary case management system used in prisons to support people at risk of suicide and self-harm. We will also be implementing the Offender Management in Custody model in the female estate in April 2021. This will provide each woman in the female estate with a dedicated key worker who will be able to better support them and identify concerns at an early stage so that women can receive the right support at the right time.</p><p> </p><p>We have also produced a range of products to support Governors in devising and implementing local safety and welfare plans designed to mitigate risks and promote wellbeing. We have developed new guidance for staff on understanding and supporting someone who is self-harming. We continue to make the Samaritans phone service available and are working with the Samaritans to ensure that the Listener peer support scheme continues to function effectively wherever possible.</p><p> </p><p>We have also invested £5m in alternatives to prison, including new women’s centres which help people address issues such as alcohol or drug addiction which leads them to crime.</p> answering member printed Lord Wolfson of Tredegar question first answered 15/02/2021 15:26:31 answering member 4901 label Biography information for Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
tabling member	4179 label Biography information for Baroness Healy of Primrose Hill

796011

registered interest
date	28/11/2017
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Offenders: Females
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to publish their strategy for female offenders in England and Wales.
tabling member printed	Baroness Healy of Primrose Hill
uin	HL3661
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/12/2017 answer text <p>We are committed to doing all we can to address the issues around female offending so we can better protect the public and deliver more effective rehabilitation.</p><p> </p><p>Considering how we can best address the needs of female offenders, to improve outcomes for them, their families and their communities, is a complex issue that we want to get right.</p><p> </p><p>We are developing a strategy for female offenders to improve outcomes for women in the community and custody. This will be published in due course.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 12/12/2017 17:43:41 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	4179 label Biography information for Baroness Healy of Primrose Hill

796012

registered interest
date	28/11/2017
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Offenders: Females
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the cross-government suicide prevention strategy, including action on self-harm, will form part of their strategy on female offenders in England and Wales.
tabling member printed	Baroness Healy of Primrose Hill
uin	HL3662
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/12/2017 answer text <p>We are committed to improving the safety of female offenders to reduce rates of self-harm and prevent deaths.</p><p> </p><p>The cross-government suicide prevention strategy recognises the importance of working across criminal justice settings to reduce suicide and self-harm. This approach will be reflected in our female offender strategy, alongside our work with the Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody on the results of their rapid information gathering exercise on <em>Preventing the Deaths of Women in Prison.</em></p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 12/12/2017 17:44:06 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	4179 label Biography information for Baroness Healy of Primrose Hill

796014

registered interest
date	28/11/2017
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners: Parents
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many children in England and Wales have had a parent in prison in the last seven years.
tabling member printed	Baroness Healy of Primrose Hill
uin	HL3663
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/12/2017 answer text <p>The government is committed to supporting prisoners to establish or maintain relationships with their families and significant others where appropriate. My Noble Friend, Lord Farmer, published his report in August, produced on behalf of the Government, which we have warmly welcomed. Work has already commenced on taking forward some of the important recommendations from this review.</p><p>The Ministry of Justice does not collect data on the number of children who have a parent in prison. An MoJ longitudinal study of adult prisoners estimated that there were around 200,000 children who had a parent in prison at some point during 2009.</p><p>In 2015, MoJ published estimates of the proportions of adult female offenders in 2012 who had one or more dependent children in their care at the time of their disposal. This analysis estimated that between 13-19% of women serving an immediate custodial sentence had at least one dependent child in their care. On average, this group of women had 1.8 children each.</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/465916/female-offenders-child-dependents-statistics.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/465916/female-offenders-child-dependents-statistics.pdf</a></p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 12/12/2017 17:11:51 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie attachment 1 file name Female Offenders and child dependent statistics.pdf title Female Offenders and child dependent statistics
tabling member	4179 label Biography information for Baroness Healy of Primrose Hill

782428

registered interest
date	02/11/2017
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Alternatives to Prison: Mothers
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of promoting the use of community-based sentences as a first option for offences that presently require custodial sentences, in order to ensure that mothers are not separated from their children.
tabling member printed	Baroness Healy of Primrose Hill
uin	HL2851
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/11/2017 answer text <p>It is important that there are robust community options available to sentencers so that vulnerable women with complex needs, including those with children, are only sent to prison when it is absolutely necessary.</p><p>We are developing a strategy for female offenders to improve outcomes for women in custody and in the community. As part of this work we are already investing £1 million seed funding between 2016 and 2020 to help local areas develop improved, multi-agency approaches to support female offenders in their area.</p><p>Sentences in individual cases are decided by the courts, who take into account guidelines issued by the independent Sentencing Council.</p><p>In February 2017, the Council issued its guideline “Imposition of Community and Custodial and Sentences”, which makes it clear that prison should be reserved for the most serious offences, and that custody should not be imposed where a community order could provide sufficient restriction on an offender’s liberty (by way of punishment) while addressing the rehabilitation of the offender to prevent future crime. The guideline also notes that for offenders on the cusp of custody, imprisonment should not be imposed where there would be an impact on dependants which would make a custodial sentence disproportionate to achieving the aims of sentencing.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 20/11/2017 11:29:56 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	4179 label Biography information for Baroness Healy of Primrose Hill

782429

registered interest
date	02/11/2017
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners: Mothers
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what consultations they have conducted in preparation for their strategy on female offenders to ensure that the criminal justice system creates an environment which promotes the reunification of imprisoned mothers with their children; and what assessment they have made of the impact, both short and long term, of such imprisonment on children living in care.
tabling member printed	Baroness Healy of Primrose Hill
uin	HL2852
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/11/2017 answer text <p>We are developing the Female Offender Strategy in consultation with a wide range of stakeholders. We issued a Call for Evidence in March 2017 and regularly consult with key stakeholders through our Advisory Board on Female Offenders, which is chaired by the Minister with responsibility for female offenders. The Minister has met with a number of organisations to discuss a wide range of issues pertinent to female offenders, including the imprisonment of mothers and the impact on their children.</p><p> </p><p>The Department for Education has not made any formal assessment of the impact of parental imprisonment in children living in care, but the Government has funded a contract worth over £1.4m for Barnardo’s to operate the i-HOP service – an England wide one-stop information service for all professionals who come into contact with the children and families of offenders – to share evidence on practice and advise commissioners and practitioners on the options available to support the families of offenders.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 16/11/2017 16:10:49 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	4179 label Biography information for Baroness Healy of Primrose Hill

61562

registered interest
date	12/06/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners on Remand: Females
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of women remanded in custody are subsequently convicted and receive an immediate custodial sentence in (1) each magistrates' court, and (2) each Crown Court, in England and Wales.
tabling member printed	Baroness Healy of Primrose Hill
uin	HL331
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/06/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p>The decision to sentence a person to a custodial sentence, or to remand a person into custody prior to trial or sentencing, is a matter for the independent judiciary and courts will take into account all the circumstances of the offence and the offender in determining this. The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 introduced a new “no real prospect” test which means that people should be released on bail if it is unlikely that they would receive a custodial sentence on conviction. Sentencing guidelines also make clear that if an offender is the sole or primary carer for dependent relatives then this should be considered a mitigating factor for avoiding a custodial sentence.</p><p> </p><p>We are committed to making sure sentencers have robust community options at their disposal. Companies bidding for contracts under our Transforming Rehabilitation reforms will be expected to demonstrate in their bids an effective approach to the identification and recognition of women's needs, as well as protected characteristics, to make sure that individual needs are properly addressed, and they will be held to account to deliver these services in their contracts. We have recently introduced Section 10 of the Offender Rehabilitation Act which requires contracts and service level agreements with all future providers for the supervision and rehabilitation of offenders to identify which services are designed to meet the particular needs of female offenders.</p><p> </p><p>We are also working through the Female Offenders Advisory Board to improve options for Enhanced Community Provision and will be raising awareness of this to criminal justice system practitioners.</p><p> </p><p>Table 1 shows the proportion of female defendants remanded in custody at magistrates' courts and subsequently given immediate custody, broken down by local justice area in England and Wales in 2013.</p><p> </p><p>Table 2 shows the proportion of female defendants remanded in custody at the Crown Court and subsequently given immediate custody, broken down by Crown Court centre in England and Wales in 2013.</p> answering member printed Lord Faulks question first answered 26/06/2014 12:50:33 answering member 4183 label Biography information for Lord Faulks attachment 1 file name HL331 Tables.XLS title Table(s) 1 and 2 - Female Defendants
tabling member	4179 label Biography information for Baroness Healy of Primrose Hill