Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with the Office for Equalities and Opportunities on the potential impact of the shortening of custodial sentences on women's centres' (a) resources and (b) capacity, in relation to women who were previously receiving support whilst incarcerated.

The Sentencing Act introduces a presumption to suspend short sentences. Along with increased use of suspended sentences and increased flexibility to defer a sentence for longer, this is expected to reduce the number of women going to prison. We know that around 60% of adults sentenced for under a year reoffend within 12 months, and evidence shows that those given a community-based sentence reoffend less than similar offenders given a short prison sentence.

Women’s centres play an important role in supporting women in the justice system – they are funded from a range of sources, including government grants and independent funding from trusts and foundations.

HMPPS-funded Women’s Commissioned Rehabilitative Services provide support for women in custody and the community and are delivered by specialist organisations including women’s centres. These services are currently being recommissioned and the future Community Support service will commence around September 2028.

In addition, the Ministry of Justice is providing £31.6 million in funding over the 2026-2029 Spending Review period for women’s community and voluntary organisations to strengthen diversion pathways and build capacity within the sector. This funding represents an increase of £10 million across the period.