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 constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1546140

registered interest
date	28/11/2022
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of women in prison.
tabling member constituency	Lewisham West and Penge
tabling member printed	Ellie Reeves
uin	97768
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/12/2022 answer text <p>As set out in the 2018 Female Offender Strategy, the Government is committed to ensure more women are managed successfully in the community and that fewer women go to prison, particularly on short sentences. Since the Strategy was published, the number of women entering the criminal justice system for the first time has fallen by 20%.</p><p>We are investing tens of millions of pounds over the next three years into community services for women, drug rehabilitation and accommodation support, so fewer women end up in prison.</p><p>We will shortly publish a Delivery Plan for the Female Offender Strategy. This will set out our ambitious cross-Government approach for the next three years.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 06/12/2022 15:01:28 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4620 label Biography information for Ellie Reeves

1535521

registered interest
date	24/10/2022
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of support for female prisoners.
tabling member constituency	Stockton South
tabling member printed	Matt Vickers
uin	69850
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/10/2022 answer text <p>The Female Offender Strategy (2018) set out the case for taking a gender specific and trauma responsive approach to female offenders. It provided a framework to deliver better outcomes for women at all points of the criminal justice system and to make society safer by tackling the underlying causes of offending and reoffending</p><p> </p><p>The Prisons Strategy White Paper, published in December 2021, provides our most recent assessment of support for women in custody, and reaffirms our intention to see a custodial environment that protects the public and supports effective rehabilitation. The White Paper sets out our approach for women’s prisons; one which is trauma responsive, recognises the distinct nature of women’s experience in custody, and provides the appropriate levels of support, particularly for pregnant women and those with young children.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 31/10/2022 17:06:24 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4844 label Biography information for Matt Vickers

1471441

registered interest
date	17/06/2022
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the terms of reference are for the National Stakeholder Advisory Forum to improve support for pregnant women and young mothers.
tabling member constituency	Lewisham West and Penge
tabling member printed	Ellie Reeves
uin	20297
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/06/2022 answer text <p>The Prisons Strategy White Paper set out a new approach for women’s prisons: one which is trauma responsive, recognises the distinct nature of women’s experience in custody and provides the appropriate levels of support, particularly for pregnant women and those with young children.</p><p>So far, we have developed bespoke selection and assessment criteria for staff in women’s prisons and started to roll out a bespoke model of staff training.</p><p>We have also funded a number of activities to support improvements in safety, including additional support for women with complex needs, specialist support for women who have experienced abuse and extra support during early days in custody.</p><p>In addition, we have announced the opening of a pilot Residential Women’s Centre in Swansea to provide a community-based alternative to a short custodial sentence.</p><p>The Pregnancy, Mother and Baby Unit and Maternal Separation from Children up to the Age of Two in Women’s Prisons Policy Framework (September 2021), committed to the introduction of the Pregnancy, Mother and Baby Liaison Officer across the women’s estate. There are 13 Liaison Officers in place and 12 attended the national ‘Managing Pregnant Women in Prison’ course in March 2022. Additionally, we have introduced a National Pregnancy, Mother and Baby Liaison Officers Support Network.</p><p>We also committed to The National Stakeholder Advisory Forum on Pregnancy, Mother and Baby Units, and Maternal Separation from Children up to the Age of Two in Women’s Prisons. This bi-annual event will bring together key stakeholders and individuals with lived experience ensuring a culture of reflective practice and informed policy development. The first event is scheduled for Autumn 2022 and the terms of reference will be shared with forum attendees in advance.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins grouped question UIN 20298 20301 question first answered 27/06/2022 11:58:19 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
tabling member	4620 label Biography information for Ellie Reeves

1440112

registered interest
date	11/03/2022
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing funding for computers, phone calls and other technical support to allow women in prison to engage with local authorities.
tabling member constituency	Hayes and Harlington
tabling member printed	John McDonnell
uin	138270
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/03/2022 answer text <p>As set out in the Prisons Strategy White Paper, we recognise that prisoner-facing technology can be transformative, including in supporting women with their rehabilitation and preparation for resettlement. To date, we have invested widely in prisoner communication, including rolling out video calling technology in July 2020 and email-reply systems in Autumn 2020 in all women’s prisons. We also completed the roll out of in-cell telephony in all closed women's prisons in June 2021. In addition, as part of family contracts, all women’s prisons have Family Engagement Workers who will work with and facilitate engagement with local authorities. In the longer-term, we aim to pilot employing social workers in women’s prisons.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 22/03/2022 17:47:07 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
tabling member	178 label Biography information for John McDonnell

1382372

registered interest
date	25/11/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Prison population projections: 2021 to 2026, published on 25 November 2021, for what reason the adult female prison population projected in (a) 2022, (b) 2023, (c) 2024 and (d) 2025 is lower than that projected in the publication Prison Population Projections: 2020 to 2026, published on 26 November 2020.
tabling member constituency	West Ham
tabling member printed	Ms Lyn Brown
uin	81906
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/12/2021 answer text <p>The starting point for the prison population projections published November 2021 (population as at end of July 2021) is lower than previously projected because of the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additional lockdowns and extended social distancing measures restricted the courts’ ability to process cases which means the criminal justice system has not recovered as quickly as previously forecast. For this reason, the population projections for 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 are not directly comparable between the 2020 and 2021 publications.</p><p> </p><p>The projections published in November 2020 assumed a female population based on historical proportions from the overall population, split by sentence length bands. The latest projections (published in November 2021) were produced with new determinate modelling, which has allowed more gender-specific assumptions around offence types and sentence lengths.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 06/12/2021 12:54:07 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1378511

registered interest
date	15/11/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent steps his Department has taken to ensure the safety of women in prison.
tabling member constituency	Enfield North
tabling member printed	Feryal Clark
uin	75162
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/11/2021 answer text <p>The safety of those who live and work in our prisons is our top priority. We have established a Women’s Estate Self-Harm taskforce which is co-ordinating longer-term work to address the factors driving self-harm</p><p><br> Our Offender Management in Custody (OMiC) model is transforming how we support prisoners and significant investments have been made to improve safety and deliver key work. In April 2021 we began implementing a gender specific Offender Management in Custody (OMiC) model in the women’s estate.</p><p>The Challenge, Intervention and Support Plan (CSIP) is also in place for the effective case-management of those prisoners who are at a raised risk of violence towards others. While the newly revised version of the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) framework includes a stronger person-centred approach and improved focus on risks, triggers, and protective factors.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 23/11/2021 17:02:36 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
tabling member	4822 label Biography information for Feryal Clark

1362494

registered interest
date	22/10/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of women prisoners in England and Wales are in prison as a result of non-violent offences.
tabling member constituency	Tottenham
tabling member printed	Mr David Lammy
uin	61073
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/11/2021 answer text <p>The most recent data indicates that 36% of the female prison population are held for offences of violence against the person. However, of the remaining 64%, there may be other offenders held for offences where violence has occurred but because there is no set guidance on which other types of offences should be classed as ‘violent’/’non-violent’, it is difficult to provide an exact total proportion.</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2021/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2021#population" target="_blank">Offender management statistics quarterly: January to March 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a></p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 01/11/2021 17:56:17 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
tabling member	206 label Biography information for Mr David Lammy

1362523

registered interest
date	22/10/2021
answering body	Wales Office
answering dept id	28
answering dept short name	Wales
answering dept sort name	Wales
hansard heading	Prisoners: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on improving the support available to pregnant female prisoners in Welsh prisons.
tabling member constituency	Newport West
tabling member printed	Ruth Jones
uin	61206
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/10/2021 answer text <p>I have regular discussions with my Cabinet colleagues on a wide range of subjects, including the provisions for female prisoners in Wales.</p><p> </p><p>On 20 September, the Ministry of Justice published a new policy on pregnancy, Mother and Baby Units and maternal separation from children up to the age of two in women’s prisons, which contains a range of reforms for improving the care of pregnant women.</p><p> </p><p>Women in prison are entitled to the same quality and range of healthcare services compared with that which they have access to in the community. Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service is responsible for working in partnership with local healthcare providers to secure access to these services.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, the Government announced last year that the first residential women’s centre for female offenders will be in Wales. Having carefully considered the evidence, the Ministry of Justice has confirmed that the first residential women’s centre will be located in South Wales. Officials have been undertaking a scoping exercise to understand how the needs of mothers with children might be met within the pilots.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire answering member printed Simon Hart question first answered 28/10/2021 10:13:42 answering member 3944 label Biography information for Simon Hart
tabling member	4716 label Biography information for Ruth Jones

1356965

registered interest
date	20/09/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average distance is for a woman placed in the prison system to their home.
tabling member constituency	Tottenham
tabling member printed	Mr David Lammy
uin	51585
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/09/2021 answer text <p>As of 17 September 2021, a woman in prison was on average 46 miles from their origin address.</p><p>There are complex and wide-ranging issues involved in transferring and locating prisoners, and allocation decisions must reflect both the specific needs and circumstances of the prisoner, including their security assessment, as well as the operating environment and range of services at the receiving prison.</p><p> </p><p>HMPPS is committed to ensuring, where practicable, that prisoners are accommodated as close as possible to their resettlement communities and families. Whilst this is a priority, it is not always possible due to a variety of factors including wider population pressures, or where women have specific sentence planning needs which can only be met at certain establishments.</p><p> </p><p>Around 97% of prisoners have an origin location; i.e. addresses that are recorded in our central IT system. If no address is given, an offender’s committal court address is used as a proxy for the area in which they are resident. This information is included in the data provided above. Those with no recorded origin are typically foreign nationals or those recently received into custody.</p><p> </p><p>The numerical information provided has been drawn from administrative IT systems, which as with any large scale recording system are subject to possible error with data entry and processing.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 28/09/2021 14:54:12 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
tabling member	206 label Biography information for Mr David Lammy

1353037

registered interest
date	06/09/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to tackle the disproportionality of women of ethnic minorities in prisons.
tabling member constituency	Lewisham West and Penge
tabling member printed	Ellie Reeves
uin	43632
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/09/2021 answer text <p>We want people to have confidence in a justice system that is fair and open – one where no person suffers discrimination of any sort.</p><p>The over-representation of ethnic minority women in prisons, and in the justice system more widely, is a real concern and we continue to prioritise understanding and tackling disparities they may face.</p><p>The Female Offender Strategy (FOS), a comprehensive programme of work to improve outcomes for women at all points of the CJS, included a clear commitment to look at how the distinct needs of ethnic minority women can be better addressed, and work is underway to deliver this commitment.</p><p>We have established a specific Female Offender Minority Ethnic (FOME) Working Group to better understand the issues faced by ethnic minority women in the CJS. This brings together policy and operational leads with expert voluntary sector colleagues with experience of supporting this cohort of women.</p><p>Work includes developing specific staff training centred on the needs of ethnic minority women, user-centred research focusing on the earlier experiences ethnic minority women face in understanding the legal processes they face up to the pre-sentencing stage, supporting those voluntary sector organisations who work with this cohort, and taking forward the recommendations of Lord Farmer’s Review.</p><p>More generally, the Department has published two updates to our work on tackling racial disparities detailing the full range of activities to address race disparity in the CJS including specific sections focused on work relevant to the disparity faced by ethnic minority women.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 14/09/2021 16:05:52 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4620 label Biography information for Ellie Reeves