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Written question asked by Baroness Fall (Conservative) on Tuesday, 14 November 2017, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 28 November 2017. It was answered by Lord Keen of Elie (Conservative) on Friday, 24 November 2017 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Prisoners: Women

Question

To ask Her Majesty's Government in relation to women in prison for non-violent offences, (1) how many are mothers to children under the age of 18, (2) what is the average length of their prison sentences, and (3) what percentage of those women are re-offenders.

Answer

As of 30 September 2017, 73% of all female prisoners (including those held on remand) were held for a non-violent offence (i.e. assuming that a non-violent offence refers to all offence groups besides the ‘Violent Against The Person’ offence group).

Information on the percentage of female prisoners held for a non-violent offence who are mothers of children under the age of 18 is not held centrally.

The average prison sentence length for all sentenced female offenders with a determinate sentence (i.e. including recalls, civil offenders and fine defaulters, but excluding those serving indeterminate sentences) for a non-violent offence was 38.3 months.

The information requested on the percentage of women in prison for non-violent offences who are re-offenders could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL3193
Session
2017-19
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Women Prisoners Mothers Prison sentences Reoffenders
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk