The quality of work undertaken with women

Almost two decades on from the Corston Report, which called for a radical change to the way we treat women in the criminal justice system, this joint inspection shows that disappointingly, there is still more to be done to support women on probation and pre-release. It makes a set of recommendations that, if followed, should make a material difference to the quality of services provided for women.

The inspection found that, in prisons, there were too many barriers to good resettlement support, the provision of services was disjointed and too complicated, and support to address practical needs, such as access to bank accounts or national insurance numbers has deteriorated rather than improved.

In particular, suitable accommodation was often not found until very close to women’s release dates, creating uncertainty and preventing other necessary services, such as mental health treatment or medication, from being arranged reliably. There are also not enough staff in prison teams, leading to delays in addressing women’s needs, and reducing the chance of any meaningful support being provided during their sentence.

Inspectors also found little evidence that progress is being made in addressing the reasons why women offend and, while evidence-based interventions designed to address women’s needs are available, few women are given the opportunity to benefit from them.