Government urged not to lose momentum on its commitment to reduce women’s imprisonment
Progress on reducing women’s imprisonment risks stalling unless the government matches its welcome ambition in this area with a decisive and sustained focus on investment and implementation, a new report published today by the Prison Reform Trust warns.
Resetting the approach to women’s imprisonment sets out why, despite almost two decades of policy commitments, the number of women in prison in England and Wales has remained stubbornly static – and what needs to change to deliver lasting reform.
The report points to Greater Manchester’s long-standing whole system approach to women as a positive example of what can be achieved. The approach shows how mayoral and local leadership, specialist women’s services and statutory partners can work together to intervene earlier, divert women from custody and address wider drivers of offending.
But the report warns that local innovation cannot substitute for national leadership. Models like Greater Manchester’s need to be enabled, resourced and replicated through the government’s next phase of women’s justice reform.
The report is published at a pivotal moment. Over the past year there has been renewed focus on improving outcomes for women in contact with the criminal justice system. The Women’s Justice Board has published a clear, time-limited blueprint for reducing women’s imprisonment. The Sentencing Act 2026 has introduced measures with real potential to positively impact women, including a presumption to suspend short custodial sentences of 12 months or less which came into force at the end of March 2026.
Despite these welcome developments, the report warns that without clear leadership, sustained investment and a concerted focus on implementation, the opportunity to make a lasting improvement in women’s justice outcomes could be lost.
Drawing on an 18-month programme of work, including analysis of evidence, data and consultation with more than 70 stakeholders – among them women with lived experience of the criminal justice system, practitioners, sentencers and policymakers – the report examines why long-standing commitments have failed to translate to meaningful change on the ground.
Nearly two decades of research and reviews have consistently shown that prison is often an ineffective and damaging response to women’s offending. Yet women continue to be drawn unnecessarily into custody. As of March 2026, there were 3,459 women in prison in England and Wales, little change from the previous year. More than one in four women in custody are held on remand, despite most not ultimately receiving a prison sentence.
At the same time, the use of recall is rising sharply. In the year to September 2025, women were recalled to prison more than 3,500 times, an increase of 31% in a single year, with many recalled for just 14 days. This persistent use of short sentences, overuse of remand and increasing recalls continues to drive women into custody, frequently disrupting family life, housing and access to vital support, without improving public safety.
The report finds that progress has stalled not because of a lack of evidence or policy, but because of weak implementation, patchy leadership and a persistent gap between rhetoric and reality.
Resetting the approach highlights clear evidence of what works. Women’s Centres are repeatedly identified by stakeholders as a cornerstone of effective, gender-responsive support, providing coordinated, multi-agency services in safe, trusted, community-based settings. Where these services are properly resourced, they can address the trauma, mental ill-health, substance misuse and housing insecurity that so often underpin women’s contact with the criminal justice system, while reducing reoffending and reliance on custody.
Crucially, the report argues that reducing women’s imprisonment cannot be achieved by the justice system alone. It calls for coordinated, cross-government action to intervene earlier, prevent crises and address the wider drivers that draw women into the criminal justice system in the first place.
PRT is urging the government to seize this moment by accepting and fully implementing the Women’s Justice Board’s recommendations, backed by strong ministerial leadership, clear accountability across departments and long-term, sustainable funding for community-based services.
Without decisive action now, the report warns, there is a serious risk that yet another cycle of commitment without delivery will undermine the credibility of the government’s promises to women in contact with the justice system.
Commenting, Pia Sinha, chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust, said:
“For nearly 20 years we have known what needs to be done to reduce women’s imprisonment, yet women are still being sent to prison in their thousands. The problem is not a lack of policy, evidence or good intentions – it is the failure to put these into practice.
“This report shows clearly that there is much going right. Across the country, there are positive, cost-effective ways of supporting women and keeping them out of prison. But these are too often fragile, underfunded or inconsistently applied.
“The Women’s Justice Board and the Sentencing Act have created a rare window of opportunity. If government is serious about reducing women’s imprisonment, now is the moment to demonstrate their word can be trusted by turning commitment into action, working across departments and investing properly in the community services that are proven to work.”
