Projected surge in female prison population is 'incredibly worrying', says charity

July 14, 2023

A rise in crime since the pandemic, longer jail sentences and court backlogs are projected to lead to a rise in the female prison population, which a charity has told Sky News they're "incredibly worried" about.

Despite numbers falling in the past five years, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) estimates a female prison population of 4,300 by July 2025 - almost a 30% increase of the present population.

Advance - a leading national charity which is funded by the MoJ - are among the many organisations who have shared their concerns at the findings, especially as 'fewer women in custody' is one of three key objectives in the government's Female Offender Strategy.

The charity's Women's Centres - which are planted across the country - support women who are in contact with the criminal justice system and referred from the statutory services or their self-referral scheme.

Their services include one-to-one counselling with those who provide support on wellbeing, domestic abuse and debt advice.

Niki Scordi, CEO of Advance, said: "We need to reflect on coming out of a pandemic where we've all learnt that the community can really turn things around for each other.

"Where actually the solutions are in our own communities and not in an institution."

Data recorded by Advance shows that around 25% of children stay with their father when a mother is in jail, compared with 90% staying with their mother when a father is sentenced, suggesting "there is a bigger impact on the whole family when a woman goes to prison".

Ms Scordi added: "The cost of the state is very heavy and in fact there are better ways and better alternatives to support them."

It costs £52,121 of public funds to keep a woman in prison for a year, according to the UK Women's Budget Group.

Advance estimates that the cost of providing annual support at their Women's Centres is £2,126 per woman.

"Why would we spend £50,000 for something we've all agreed, both the Ministry of Justice and ourselves and every other criminal justice agency that it doesn't work?" Ms Scordi said.

"They [the government] need to be allowing us to do the work that we need to do in the community and not considering it as a luxury.

"All of this makes me incredibly worried."

'It was a horrible, horrible experience'

Sophie - which is not her real name - received a 15-month prison sentence when she was pregnant for counterfeit money.

She described her poor mental health and substance misuse during the time of her offense after leaving "a violent and really abusive relationship".

"I think if the courts kind of knew my history and what was happening around me to committing the crime, they would kind of understand why I did it in the first place," she said.

"I'm not saying that I'm not guilty for what I've done, but at the same time it was out of desperation as well."

The 34-year-old described her time in jail as "extremely traumatic" and "awful" for a pregnant woman.

"I think the one thing that probably got me through my sentence was being pregnant because I had my daughter with me, but in terms of preparation for the baby being born, there was absolutely none.

"It was a horrible, horrible experience."

When Sophie was released from prison, for the first few months she was homeless, which led her to "go back to old behaviours".

The Safe Homes for Women Leaving Prisons initiative estimates that close to 60% of women who leave prison are then homeless.

Sophie is now a volunteer under Advance's mentorship programme, where she provides one-to-one support to those leaving the system.

"I want to help guide young girls in the right direction to give them the help that I never got", she said.

Responding to the comments from Ms Scordi and Sophie, a Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "Custody is already a last resort for women and reducing reoffending is a key priority for this government. The number of women in prison has fallen by a quarter since 2010, and we continue to work to reduce reoffending amongst females following the launch of our Female Offender Strategy.

"We are investing millions into community services like women's centres and drug rehabilitation so even fewer end up there, and have also made significant improvements for the small number of pregnant women in custody.

"We now have specialist mother and baby liaison officers in every women's prison, have put in place additional welfare observations and provide better screening and social services support so that pregnant prisoners get the care they require."