Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many children born to women serving a custodial sentence were taken into care in the most recent five years for which figures are available.

Information on the number of children born to women serving a custodial sentence and taken into care is not collected by NOMS. This is of course a matter for Local Authority Social Services Departments and as such NOMS does not hold any data.

There are trained family support workers in each prison with a good understanding of childcare proceedings and their role is to facilitate communication between all parties to ensure the needs of the children and women are adequately met.