Editorial comment: Women off prisons agenda

women off prisons agenda

The prisons agenda seems to be all about overcrowding, young offenders, the male prison estate or Titan prisons. Little is said about female offenders. This is despite last year’s Corston review which found that too many vulnerable women are sent to jail.

You might think that last week’s national service framework on improving services for female offenders from the Ministry of Justice would herald a change for the better. But there’s no timeframe for delivery, no budget set out and nothing that’s a mandatory requirement.

Meanwhile Corston’s key recommendation to create a commissioning body/commissioner for women offenders and a radical recommendation to replace prisons with small custodial centres for those few violent female ­offenders languish in the background – just like female prisoners.

➔ See p8