Lisa Cameron
Main Page: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)Department Debates - View all Lisa Cameron's debates with the Ministry of Justice
(8 years, 2 months ago)
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Andrew Selous
What I can say to the hon. Lady is that we are building a prison estate that is fit for purpose. The Chancellor has just given us £1.3 billion to build nine new prisons, we are opening two new house blocks and we are about to open HMP Berwyn in February next year, so we are in the process of building a fit-for-purpose prison estate.
Dr Lisa Cameron (East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow) (SNP)
6. What steps he is taking to reduce the number of women in prisons.
Martyn Day (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (SNP)
10. What steps he is taking to reduce the number of women in prisons.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Women and Equalities and Family Justice (Caroline Dinenage)
I have been clear that I want to see far fewer women ending up in prison. We are committed to improving the treatment of female offenders and to putting in place the interventions needed at each stage to help them to turn their lives away from crime.
Dr Cameron
I associate myself and my colleagues on these Benches with the Minister’s earlier comments.
The Cabinet Secretary for Justice in Scotland has made clear the Scottish Government’s commitment to tackling the number of women in prison by consulting on proposals to strengthen the current presumption against short sentences, by continuing to invest in robust community sentences and by investing an additional £1.5 million annually in community justice for women. Will the Minister join me in commending the efforts of the Scottish Government to apply a community-based rehabilitative approach?
Caroline Dinenage
Absolutely. We are keen to learn from any experiences in Scotland and elsewhere in the world that are successful in diverting women away from prison. Here in England and Wales, we have awarded £200,000 of grant funding to pilot earlier and more sequenced interventions with the right sort of multi-agency approach, which should see fewer women ending up in prison for short periods.