Select committee inquiry
Women offenders: follow-up session
Closed
What the inquiry looked at
“The Justice Committee holds a one-off session to follow-up on its report on women offenders , published 15 July 2013.”
The committee's words, from the inquiry page on parliament.uk ↗.
What the government said
The government responded on 23 July 2015.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response.
The Government welcomes the Committee's recognition of progress and says it is "committed to further improving the treatment of female offenders and reducing the number of women in custody", while declining one recommendation on the custodial estate.
- On the Advisory Board, the Government has refreshed the membership and Terms of Reference since May 2015. It "note[s]" concerns about changes of chair, and suggests that new chairs can also be "a strength".
- It states that it "cannot accept the recommendation that women are held in an estate consisting principally of small custodial units", and points instead to new specialist units for women with the most complex needs.
- On Liaison and Diversion, a full business case is to be submitted to the Treasury in the autumn of 2015, "with the aim of achieving roll out in 2017".
- On temporary release, the Government says it is "committed to publishing data on ROTL more regularly and to monitoring the impact of the new ROTL approach on women and all protected groups", but gives no date.
Read the government's response ↗ Read the report ↗ Report an error
How the inquiry ran
Each dot is a dated item listed on this page, from the inquiry's opening on 1 July 2014 to its close on 23 July 2015.
- Oral evidence 16 Jul 2014
- Report 24 Mar 2015
- Government response 23 Jul 2015
What it recommended 2 recommendations · 6 conclusions
1We welcome the cross-Government focus on reducing women’s offending which has been achieved in the...
Concluded (the committee's words)
We welcome the cross-Government focus on reducing women’s offending which has been achieved in the form of the Advisory Board, but we note with concern that the high turnover of Ministers and, therefore, Advisory Board Chairs, during the Board’s short existence appears to have impeded progress against the priorities set out in March 2013. There is a clearer direction of policy on women offenders, but we consider it too early to assess whether the Advisory Board constitutes the most effective mechanism to steer high-level cross-Government strategy. We welcome the Minister’s determination to reduce the women’s prison population, because strong direction from the centre is needed to achieve this. We hope to see a fall by the time of the Ministry’s next annual review of its strategic objectives. However we note that any such fall would be against the apparent tide of a rising general prison population.
2In our Report Crime reduction policies: a co-ordinated approach?, we concluded that slow progress was...
Concluded (the committee's words)
In our Report Crime reduction policies: a co-ordinated approach?, we concluded that slow progress was being made in developing liaison and diversion schemes and that much more could be done. We argued that the Government had tended to focus on crisis management, where there might be more immediate financial gains to be had, and, as a result, only a small proportion of funding was being assigned to early intervention programmes which have could potentially lead to longer term benefits. We believe the wider availability of these schemes will be crucial for strengthening community-based provision for women in order to reduce the female prison population.
3We are concerned that funding appears to be a recurring problem for women’s centres and...
Concluded (the committee's words)
We are concerned that funding appears to be a recurring problem for women’s centres and that future funding arrangements have not been put on a sound basis as we recommended.
4Women’s centres should not be solely for women already in the criminal justice system, but...
Recommended (the committee's words)
Women’s centres should not be solely for women already in the criminal justice system, but also for those on the periphery of it and at risk of entering it, and we reiterate our recommendation that sustainable funding of specialist women’s services should be a priority.
5It is still very early to assess whether the requirement to take account of women’s...
Concluded (the committee's words)
It is still very early to assess whether the requirement to take account of women’s needs placed on probation providers by the Transforming Rehabilitation programme is sufficient to safeguard the long term funding of women’s centres.
6We remain of the view that an estate consisting principally of small custodial units is...
Concluded (the committee's words)
We remain of the view that an estate consisting principally of small custodial units is best suited to women in custody. This should be the long term aim of the Government, when it has been successful in reducing the size of the women’s prison population.
7We welcome the Government’s assurances that the Minister is taking steps to minimise the potential...
Concluded (the committee's words)
We welcome the Government’s assurances that the Minister is taking steps to minimise the potential impact on women of recent restrictions on ROTL. We anticipate that our successor Committee will have to monitor this carefully in the future.
8Overall, we believe that positive steps are being made in meeting the needs of women...
Recommended (the committee's words)
Overall, we believe that positive steps are being made in meeting the needs of women offenders, and we welcome the Minister’s personal determination to reduce the women’s prison population and improve and increase the programmes of support available to female offenders to help them take responsibility and improve their lives. The greater energy with which the Government has begun to address the issue of women offenders needs to be sustained and continued by the next Government: this applies to matters such as reliable funding of women’s centres, the effectiveness of rehabilitative provision for women by Community Rehabilitation Companies, and the potential of smaller custodial units. We want to see more effective provision for women offenders, making it possible for there to be a substantial fall in the women’s prison population in the coming months and years. We recommend that our successor Committee in the next Parliament continue to monitor this subject closely.
Evidence
Oral evidence sessions 1
- 16 Jul 2014No witnesses recordedparliament.uk ↗