“Disappointing” progress on reducing female custody, figures reveal

Figures released by the Prison Reform Trust reveal disappointing progress in reducing the size of the female prison population despite cross-party endorsement for Baroness Corston’s review, published more than three years ago, which called for “radical change” in the treatment of women in the criminal justice system. The briefing, Women in Prison, coincides with a BBC Breakfast feature on the work of women’s centres which offer alternatives to custody for women offenders.

According to the briefing on 6 August 2010 the number of women in prison in England and Wales stood at 4,230. In the last decade the women’s prison population has gone up by 33%. In 1995 the mid-year female prison population was 1,979. In 2000 it stood at 3,355 and in 2007, the year Baroness Corston’s review was published, it was 4,283. A total of 11,044 women were received into prison in 2009.

The briefing reveals that:

• 27% of women in prison had no previous convictions – more than double the figure for men.
• On 30 June 2010 there were 786 women on remand, 18% of the female prison population.
• 64.3% of women released from prison in 2004 were reconvicted within two years of release. This compares to fewer than four out of ten (38%) ten years ago.

Baroness Corston’s review of vulnerable women in the criminal justice system, of which the Prison Reform Trust was an independent member, was commissioned by the Home Office following the deaths of six women at Styal prison. The review, which proposed that “community solutions for non-violent offenders should be the norm”, called for the development of a network of smaller units and effective local services coupled with proper supervision and support. 

The reforms were accepted by the three main political parties but, as today’s figures reveal, progress has been disappointingly slow. With Ministry of Justice funding for the network of women’s centres secured only until March 2011, the prospect of further progress could be at risk.

Our briefing shows it is all too easy for vulnerable women to slide off the political agenda and return to being a neglected minority. Even in lean economic times, this can be avoided by creating the right structure and authoritative drivers for reform. The new coalition government urgently needs to develop a framework fit to deliver and sustain real change. Improved services in the community and better links with sentencers and the new sentencing council would all help achieve the goal of a measurable reduction in women’s imprisonment.