The Government is to spend £9.15m on new centres that aim to help cut the number of women in prison.

Home secretary Charles Clarke said the community supervision and support centres would be piloted in two areas from next year.

Clarke was speaking at a conference last Tuesday organised by the Fawcett Commission, which examines the way women are treated by the criminal justice system.

The four-year project is a response to a 2004 report by the commission warning that many female prisoners have drug and mental health problems that worsen in prison.

The project was first mentioned in last year’s comprehensive spending review.

The proposed one-stop shops, based on projects such as the Asha centre in Worcester and the 218 Project in Glasgow, aim to reduce the use of custody for women and drive down reoffending. They will tackle issues that can lead women to commit crime, such as domestic violence, drug abuse, poor housing and mental health problems.

Women generally commit minor offences. Four times more men than women are imprisoned for violent crime on average each year, but the numbers of women in custody are rising.

Clarke said: “Prison should only be used for those who really need to be there. These new initiatives will tackle issues like drug dependency and mental health problems in the community at an early stage, and help ensure custody is a last resort.”

Source

Housing Today