Peers win vote for women’s justice

Peers have backed an important amendment to the Crime and Courts Bill requiring contracts made with probation trusts to make “appropriate provision for the delivery of services to female offenders”.

The amendment, drafted by the Prison Reform Trust with the assistance of Paul Cavadino, was moved by the Chair of the Prison Reform Trust, the former Lord Chief Justice Lord Woolf. It stated the need for programmes to prevent reoffending with “the particular needs of women in mind”.

The Prison Reform Trust’s briefing prepared to assist Peers in the debate on the bill can be read here.  A full transcript of the debate can be read here.

Lord Woolf said there was nothing in the amendment that cut across the Government’s “good intentions” and its plan to launch a strategy on women’s justice in the New Year. Speaking in the debate Lord Woolf emphasised that “the statute should contain a statement of recognition of the special position of women in the criminal justice system”.
 
The amendment was co-signed by the former Chief Inspector of Prisons Lord Ramsbotham and built on amendments prepared by the Prison Reform Trust and tabled by Baroness Linklater and Lady Hamwee in the committee and report stage debates on the Bill.
 
Peers who spoke in favour of the amendment included Baroness Corston, the author of the government-commissioned review on vulnerable women in the justice system; Lord Rosser, the opposition spokesperson on home affairs; Baroness Kennedy and Baroness Howe.
 
The amendment was backed by 187 votes to 159, a majority of 28.
 
As the Crime and Courts Bill moves to the House of Commons in the New Year, the Prison Reform Trust and allied organisations will work to ensure support for this amendment to be carried through into law.