Taskforce to reduce number of women in prisons expected to launch next week
The government is expected to announce the launch of a Women’s Justice Board to reduce the number of women in prisons as soon as next week.
It is a progressive approach to sentencing that went largely under the radar when it was first announced by the justice secretary at Labour’s conference last year.
The idea is to reduce the number of women in prisons by intervening early, tackling the root causes of offending and focusing on alternatives to prison, including community sentences.
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Sky News understands that the members of the Women’s Justice Board have now been selected and it includes experts in the criminal justice system, charities and government departments.
Lord Timpson, the prisons minister, will chair the justice board and it will sit inside the Ministry of Justice.
Another notable member will be Lady Edwina Grosvenor, an aristocrat and philanthropist known for her pioneering work in the criminal justice system. Her charity Hope Street, partly funded by her own trust fund, offers a community alternative for women at risk of being imprisoned.
The announcement next week is an acknowledgement from the government that prison isn’t working for women – and Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has said the ultimate goal for the taskforce is to reduce the amount of women’s prisons altogether.
The current overcrowding in prisons is well documented and this transformational approach would free up spaces urgently needed elsewhere in the system.
Lord Timpson has previously said that a custodial sentence is not always the right punishment for people and that prison is often “a disaster” for women “because it’s putting them back in the offending cycle”.
It has been broadly welcomed by charities within the sector. The Prison’s Reform Trust has said the new measures “represents a historic moment for women’s justice reform”.
“The majority of women sent to prison are convicted of non-violent offences and receive short sentences of six months or less,” it added.
“Rates of self-harm in women’s prisons are more than eight times higher than in the male estate. Many women are primary carers for children, which means prison can have a devastating impact on those left behind on the outside as well as on the women themselves.”
The board will sit inside the Ministry of Justice with regular round tables and ongoing work. It expects to come back with a broad framework in the spring.
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A Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson said: “The Conservatives drove our overcrowded prisons to the point of collapse.
“With women in the justice system a shocking ten-times more likely to self-harm, the government needs to get a grip on this issue and fast.
“While it’s welcome that the government heeded our calls to launch a Women’s Justice Board, we’ve seen no real progress yet.
“The government must get the board’s work underway urgently if we are to fix our overcrowded prisons, robustly rehabilitate ex-offenders, and keep our communities safe.”