Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many children were taken into care because their mother was given a custodial sentence in each of the last five years; and in such cases, how many of those sentences were for (1) less than two months, (2) two months to four months, (3) four months to six months, (4) six months to 12 months, and (5) over 12 months.

The data requested is not something that HMPPS records. In England, the Department for Education is responsible for Child Safeguarding; some children covered by this policy will have a mother in prison. The Welsh Government is responsible for delivery of the service in Wales. Some children affected by parental imprisonment will be supported by Children’s Social Care departments in Local Authorities.

In practice, it is Local Authorities overseen by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) who are responsible for delivering operational support to families on child safeguarding, including for children affected by parental imprisonment. Individual Local Authorities monitor data on any interventions that have been put in place, including foster care or adoption placements.

The MoJ acknowledges that parental separation due to imprisonment disproportionately affects women. Individual women’s prisons collect information on caring responsibilities at the point of reception, but this is not always reliable as some women choose not to disclose their circumstances. Further, the collection does not specify the care arrangement for those children, which is the responsibility of Local Authorities.

Prisons and Local Authorities work in partnership to safeguard children affected by parental imprisonment as appropriate, including through the sharing of data.