What assessment has the Minister made of establishing women’s prisons in Wales?
The UK Government is responsible for prisons, but devolved services such as housing, mental health, substance misuse and employability have an incredibly important role in supporting women who are in contact with the criminal justice system. There are currently no women’s prisons in Wales.
Many custodial sentences for women are both unnecessary and disruptive, with the majority being short-term sentences with long-term impacts to the woman and her family. The residential women’s centre will provide an alternative to a custodial sentence, providing much needed support for vulnerable women. It will be the first step towards a new model for supporting women in the justice system, creating a sustainable and rehabilitative alternative to custody which helps Welsh women to address the causes of offending behaviour.
The residential women’s centre will provide residential and non-residential places. The focus will be for women who pose a low to medium risk of re-offending and will attempt to either divert from the criminal justice system entirely, or where subject to a community-based penalty, work collaboratively to reduce the risk of further offending. The centre is a key component of the Women’s Justice Blueprint and will deliver in line with the overall aim of providing a more holistic, trauma informed approach to delivering services for women who may find themselves involved in the criminal justice system in Wales.
My officials and I continue to work collaboratively with Ministry of Justice as the development of the residential women’s centre continues to progress. This includes work to ensure women at the centre have access to devolved services such as mental health and substance misuse support in an integrated and effective way.