Women offenders: after the Corston Report - United Kingdom ...

14 Women offenders: after the Corston Report“dismayed to have drawn the conclusion, despite Ministers’ assertions to thecontrary, that over the last three years the impetus for real change appears to havebeen lost and progress has been stalled”. 43Juliet Lyon contrasted the situation in England and Wales with that in Scotland in the wakeof Dame Elish Angiolini’s Commission on Women Offenders when the Justice Secretaryresponded immediately and accepted her recommendation for him to provide annualprogress reports to the Scottish Parliament. 4427. A sense of a loss of opportunity was widely shared and as a result we repeatedly heardconcerns that vulnerable women were continuing to be imprisoned unnecessarily and thatthe positive developments that had been made may not be sustainable. 45 Clive Martinidentified three positive developments that he felt were in danger of dissipating: the sharedGovernment and civic society (in the form of CIFC) commitment to pursuing the Corstonagenda; the development of women’s centres as the “best bet” of stemming the flow ofwomen into the criminal justice system; and the recognition of the value of the voluntarysector in engaging and supporting women who have often had a negative experience ofstatutory services. 46 In their written submission CIFC expressed disappointment that theGovernment did not appear to be interested in continuing its collaboration in sustainingthe network of women’s community projects:The unusual and real partnership between the charitable Trusts and Foundationsand the statutory authorities represented, in our view, a golden opportunity to dothings differently [...] CIFC continues to meet with officials in the hope of bringingour influence to bear and to share our experience in sponsoring innovation, but it isapparent that our involvement is no longer a priority. 4728. Our witnesses proposed a variety of governance mechanisms, including: reinstating thewomen’s criminal justice policy unit 48 ; independent oversight, such as the creation of aWomen’s Justice Board to set and monitor policy nationally, or something akin to NHSCommissioning Board Clinical Senate or the Ministerial Board on Deaths in Custody toperform an advisory function 49 ; and splitting strategic and commissioning functions invarious other ways. 50 Juliet Lyon commended the intensive focus of the Youth JusticeBoard on reducing numbers of young people in custody, and said there was a need forsimilarly concerted effort for women offenders: “[...] it would be helped massively if therewere such a thing as a women’s justice board and the kind of drive, leadership and focusthat that would bring with it [...] Even if Government will not consider a W[omens]J[ustice] B[oard], they need to use some of the elements and success of both of those tomake this work.” 51 Baroness Corston was clear that any governance mechanism must focus43 Ev 6444 Q 13845 See for example Ev 103, Ev 114, Q 138 [Ms Crook, Ms Lyon, Mr Martin]46 Q 139, See also [Q 165] Ms Halford47 Ev 8848 Ev 10349 See for example Ev 65, Ev 103, Ev 66, Ev 124, Ev w7750 Ev w1, Ev 8951 Q 164, Ev 103