First Report - Women in Prison

The government accepted the recommendation but responded by outlining an ongoing process evaluation of the Pre-Sentence Report (PSR) pilot, which includes female offenders as a priority cohort, with a report to be published in 2023, instead of detailing financial investment or timeframes for L&D women's pathways.

The government did not address the specific pre-sentence report pilot, its evaluation, or targets, instead stating that Community Sentence Treatment Requirements (CSTRs) for substance misuse and secondary mental health are available in all court areas, with primary care coverage aimed for 100% by 2023/2024.

The government accepted the recommendation but responded by detailing an internal review of the ACCT (self-harm prevention) process within the women's estate, rather than providing a timeline for remaining Residential Women's Centre pilot sites.

The government accepted the recommendation but responded by detailing a multi-disciplinary Women’s Self-Harm Taskforce and various prison safety measures, instead of providing operational details or evaluation plans for Residential Women's Centres.

The government accepted the recommendation but responded by detailing reforms in the draft Mental Health Bill to prevent prisons from being used as a place of safety and enable direct transfer to therapeutic settings, rather than clarifying plans for 500 new prison places.

The government accepted the recommendation but responded by stating it concluded an internal review into the use of remand for own protection under the Bail Act 1976 and established a working group to implement reforms from the draft Mental Health Bill, addressing a different topic.

The government accepted the recommendation but responded with general information about reducing violence and enhancing prison safety, including a £37 million investment and an innovations taskforce. It did not confirm the full rollout of the OMiC model across the female estate or provide a timeline for keyworker allocation.

The government accepted the recommendation but responded by discussing a joint Information Sharing Task & Finish group's delivery plan for 2022-2023, amendments to medical emergency protocols, and the refreshing of the Substance Misuse service specification, without addressing the specific questions about trauma-informed training.

The government accepted the recommendation but responded by detailing actions taken in response to PPO recommendations regarding Baby A and Baby B deaths, including a new policy on Pregnancy, Mother and Baby Units, and the development of a Pregnancy and Post-natal specification, which is unrelated to the requested review.

The government accepted the recommendation but responded by detailing changes to the Basic Custody Screening Tool for data collection and efforts through the £19.7m BOLD programme to understand children affected by parental incarceration, rather than outlining work to address violence levels.

The government accepted the recommendation but responded by outlining measures to maintain family contact during the pandemic, retaining social video calling permanently, and introducing a new central data collection for family visits from February 2023, rather than committing to an action plan for the National Women’s Prisons Health and Social Care Review or improving health data collection.

The government accepted the recommendation but focused its response on improvements in data collection for learning difficulties, educational attainment (exploring gender breakdown in Autumn 2022), and care experience (publishing guidance in Oct 2022 and a research project until Jan 2023), rather than addressing the requested improvements in staff communications, medical emergency response, drug management, or efforts to reduce healthcare waiting lists.

The government accepted the recommendation but did not provide an update on the PPO reports regarding Baby A and Baby B deaths or how lessons learned are being applied. Instead, it outlined commitments to transform the Prisoner Education Service, recruit Neurodiversity Support Managers (5 roles offered, others recruiting), develop personal learning plans, and work towards allowing prisoners to undertake apprenticeships with new regulations by early October.

The government accepted the recommendation but did not set out work or a timeline for collecting and publishing data on women in prison who are primary carers. Instead, it described commitments to improve job opportunities and employment support for women, detailing the roles of the New Futures Network and Employment Brokers, and noting that 10 Prison Employment Leads and 6 Employment Hubs are operational in women's prisons as of September 2022.

The government accepted the recommendation but did not address family contact measures, pandemic-related changes, or family visit data. Instead, it detailed the Community Accommodation Service for prison leavers, outlining temporary accommodation, single-gender provision with 10% for women, and the support provided by Community Probation Practitioners and the Women’s Commissioned Rehabilitation Service for housing and holistic needs.

The government accepted the recommendation but did not explain how changes to Release on Temporary Licence (ROTL) specifically considered female offenders' Education, Training, and Employment (ETE) needs or provide data on improved ETE access via ROTL. Instead, it described a new performance measure for pre-release assessments for those with 10 months or less to serve (to be introduced in 2023) and outlined support structures for short-sentence prisoners focusing on resettlement and accommodation outcomes.

The government accepted the recommendation but responded by outlining a pre-sentence report (PSR) pilot, launched last year, aimed at improving the quality of information presented to court, with an evaluation report due in 2023, rather than addressing investment or consistency in L&D women's pathways.

The government announced £24 million over 3 years to support women in the criminal justice system through women's community sector investment and service integration, but did not specifically address the decline in pre-sentence reports or how it plans to increase their use.

The government accepted the recommendation but responded by outlining plans to provide 456 additional trauma-informed prison places across five women's prisons by early 2025, rather than addressing mandatory full written pre-sentence reports.

The government accepted the recommendation but responded by detailing the rollout of the OMiC Key Work and Case management model across the women's prison estate, rather than addressing the support for existing community-based Women's Centres.

The government accepted the recommendation but responded by detailing enhanced trauma-informed training for new and existing prison officers in the women’s estate, rather than committing to rolling out CSTRs for 100% court area coverage.

The government accepted the recommendation but responded by stating that a review of health and social care across the women's estate is due to report in Autumn 2022, with next steps to be considered afterwards, without clarifying the scope of staff training.

The government accepted the recommendation but responded by stating it has completed 25 out of 31 of Lord Farmer’s recommendations on family relationships and will publish a progress update by the end of 2022, which is unrelated to collecting data on custody as a place of safety.

The government accepted the recommendation but responded by stating it is piloting changes to a scheme to enable more children to visit and plans a relaunch of the Help with Visits scheme by April 2023, which is unrelated to collecting data on women's health needs.

The government accepted the recommendation but did not address the Assisted Prison Visits Scheme or how to raise awareness of it. Instead, it focused on commitments to prevent homelessness for prison leavers through the Community Accommodation Service, detailing gender-specific provision, increased capacity for women in Approved Premises, and plans to increase Strategic Housing Specialists to one in every female custodial establishment.