Thousands of women could avoid prison as Labour plans review of reduced prison sentences

Short prison sentences for thousands of women who commit crimes could be abolished under a planned sentencing review by the Justice Secretary. I has learned.

In its election manifesto, Labour promised a review to bring sentencing “up to date”, and Shabana Mahmood is expected to call for consideration of how prison sentences for female criminals could be reduced.

There have long been concerns that women are disproportionately given shorter prison sentences and that many of them are mothers or victims of crime themselves. Their imprisonment therefore has wider social impacts, such as the destruction of families, and is also seen as ineffective in preventing recidivism.

It is also hoped that shortening prison sentences could increase the capacity of prisons that are reaching their limits.

Ms Mahmood has not yet made a decision and it is unclear to what extent the short prison sentences for women will be reduced. I expects that, when reviewing the sentence, it will ask for a specific focus to be placed on this area, as it shares the concerns raised.

To address capacity constraints in prisons, the government announced emergency measures last week under the motto “One In, One Out”. In addition, a plan announced by Ms Mahmood will come into force on September 10th to reduce the point of automatic release from 50 percent of a sentence to 40 percent.

The Prison Reform Trust said I that reducing prison sentences for women was an “obvious” solution given the “shortage” of prison places.

It says that short prison sentences – of less than six or 12 months – are often long enough to destroy families and leave criminal women homeless, while doing little to address the root causes of their crimes.

The government has long placed a priority on reducing the number of women in prison, with the Conservative-led Department of Justice publishing a strategy for female offenders in 2018 that focuses on early intervention and community-based solutions.

But in 2022, ministers were criticised by the National Audit Office for failing to prioritise or invest in the strategy.

A year later, the Ministry of Justice launched a new implementation plan with an investment of £24 million in community solutions between 2023 and 2025. £15 million of this had already been allocated last October.

In January 2021, the Ministry of Justice also announced plans to build 500 new prison places for women at an estimated cost of £150 million.

Women in prisons: The numbers

Research by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) in 2021 found that 41 percent of female offenders were sentenced to prison terms of up to three months, compared to 26 percent of male offenders. 28 percent of women were sentenced to prison terms of between three and 12 months, compared to 31 percent of male offenders.

A larger proportion of men were sentenced to prison terms of over one year and over four years, while women received shorter prison sentences than men, due to the fact that a larger proportion of women are convicted for crimes punishable by shorter prison sentences.

The latest statistics from the Ministry of Justice show that as of June 30 this year, there were 84,043 men and 3,683 women in prison.

The Prison Reform Trust found in October last year that in 2022, more than half (58 percent) of women were sentenced to prison terms of less than six months.

The Trust's latest available research shows that in the years to March 2023, women were sent to prison 5,164 times, either on remand or to serve a sentence.

Women were significantly more likely to self-harm in prison than men, accounting for 29 percent of all self-harm cases in 2022, despite making up only four percent of the prison population.

The Trust also estimates that 17,000 children are affected by the imprisonment of their mothers each year.

Many women in prison have also been victims of crimes far more serious than those they were convicted of. According to the Trust, more than half of them say they are victims of domestic violence and 53 percent of women in prison say they experienced emotional, physical or sexual abuse as children.

Commenting on the government's plans, Pia Sinha, chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust, said: “The vast majority of women sent to prison have committed non-violent crimes and are therefore often serving sentences of less than a year.”

“The reasons for their crimes are often addiction and poverty, as well as past trauma and abuse.

“These prison sentences are long enough to deprive women of their homes, their children and any stability in their community, while doing little to address the reasons that drove them to commit crime in the first place.

“We already have more effective solutions that reduce recidivism rates, keep families together and provide women with the support they need to move beyond crime.

“What was missing was the funding to put it on a long-term, sustainable basis.

“If we have services ready and willing to support and prison places are drastically reduced, the solution is obvious.”