Select committee: Justice Committee
Recommendation 38
First Report - Women in Prison
Published 26 Jul 2022
Paragraph 201
Addressed to Ministry of Justice
Justice Committee Women in Prison All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The New Futures Network has the potential to increase job opportunities for women upon release from prison. However, given the small size of the female estate and the likelihood that women will be placed far from home, it is unclear how the New Futures Network will adapt to address this specific need. The Ministry of Justice should set out how their New Futures Network strategy for female prisons differs to that for the male estate, taking into consideration the specific challenges that are present in the female estate. Additionally, the Ministry of Justice should set out what progress has been made in developing the New Futures Network and how success is being measured, including the number of women who have been placed into employment since it became operational.
From: Justice Committee, First Report - Women in Prison (HC 265), paragraph 201, 26 July 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 21 October 2022 (deadline 26 September 2022).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government accepts most of the Committee's recommendations on women in prison, but states it does not accept three: mandatory full written pre-sentence reports, new data collection on custody as a place of safety, and a cross-department accommodation strategy.
- On pre-sentence reports, the government says it "does not accept" making full written reports mandatory for women facing custody, stating the court must already request one "unless it considers it to be unnecessary". A pilot evaluation is to be published in 2023.
- It does not accept the recommendation to collect data on custody as a place of safety, saying a cross-agency group found "no robust source of data" and the focus is on implementing reforms in the draft Mental Health Bill.
- It does not accept the call for a cross-department accommodation strategy "because this is already being delivered through other means", citing the Prisons Strategy White Paper and Beating Crime Plan.
- On new prison capacity, it states the new facilities "will aim to provide 456 additional places" across five women's prisons, with the first women expected in the new facilities "in early 2025".