Women offenders: after the Corston Report - United Kingdom ...
Women offenders: after the Corston Report - United Kingdom ...
Women offenders: after the Corston Report - United Kingdom ...
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<strong>Women</strong> <strong>offenders</strong>: <strong>after</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Corston</strong> <strong>Report</strong> 23regular reporting to Parliament had been crucial to <strong>the</strong> progress that had been made under<strong>the</strong> previous Government. 103 The Prison Reform Trust specifically called for us to reviewprogress on an annual basis. 104 Helen Grant agreed to keep us informed of <strong>the</strong>recommendations of <strong>the</strong> Advisory Board. 10549. We do not consider that <strong>the</strong> Advisory Board without wider ministerial involvementwill constitute a sufficient mechanism for high level cross-departmental governancearrangements of <strong>the</strong> sort that Baroness <strong>Corston</strong> initially proposed, and advocated bymany of our witnesses. It is not likely to have <strong>the</strong> authority to bring about integratedstrategy and co-ordinated service provision. Most Government departments have acontribution to make to <strong>the</strong> work of <strong>the</strong> new Advisory Board, but we consider that at aminimum <strong>the</strong>re must be representation from <strong>the</strong> Department of Health, Departmentof Communities and Local Government, Home Office, <strong>the</strong> Department for Educationand <strong>the</strong> Department of Work and Pensions. We welcome <strong>the</strong> fact that <strong>the</strong> first three of<strong>the</strong>se are full members of <strong>the</strong> Board but as poverty is an important dimension inwomen’s offending we consider that <strong>the</strong> Department for Work and Pensions shouldalso be required to participate as a matter of course ra<strong>the</strong>r than on an ad hoc basis. Thesame status should be afforded to <strong>the</strong> Department for Education, which does not atpresent have even a peripheral role, in order to address <strong>the</strong> question of effectivelyidentifying girls at risk of offending. It is only with robust high-level support thatcollaboration between departmental officials on <strong>the</strong> Advisory Board will be effective.We would like to see women <strong>offenders</strong>, and those at risk of offending, become astanding item on <strong>the</strong> agenda of <strong>the</strong> Inter-Ministerial Group on Equality as anadditional means of facilitating collective responsibility for <strong>the</strong>se matters.50. There was limited external input into <strong>the</strong> Government’s development of its strategicpriorities. It is regrettable that this was <strong>the</strong> case and this, toge<strong>the</strong>r with <strong>the</strong> uncertaintyabout <strong>the</strong> membership of <strong>the</strong> Advisory Board, adds to <strong>the</strong> appearance that <strong>the</strong> prioritieswere produced in haste with insufficient thought. This is manifested in <strong>the</strong> absence of anydetail about how <strong>the</strong> Government intends to measure success towards meeting its strategicpriorities. The Advisory Board should devise appropriate measures of success inrelation to each of <strong>the</strong> strategic priorities and publish regularly progress against <strong>the</strong>m,alongside an account of its own work in fur<strong>the</strong>ring <strong>the</strong> priorities. Accountability shouldlie not just with <strong>the</strong> Minister with responsibility for women <strong>offenders</strong> but should bebuilt into relevant roles within o<strong>the</strong>r government departments and local authorities. Itis not possible for <strong>the</strong> Ministry of Justice alone to address <strong>the</strong> wide range of problemsthat contribute to female offending. There must be much more explicit recognition,including by <strong>the</strong> Minister herself, of <strong>the</strong> need to focus as much on those women andgirls on <strong>the</strong> periphery as those who are already involved in <strong>the</strong> system.51. Over <strong>the</strong> next four chapters we consider <strong>the</strong> substance of <strong>the</strong> Government’s strategicpriorities. It should be noted that all our written and oral evidence on <strong>the</strong>se matters, with<strong>the</strong> exception of <strong>the</strong> oral evidence session with Helen Grant and her officials, was takenprior to <strong>the</strong> publication of <strong>the</strong> Government’s strategic priorities.103 Q 9104 Ev 103105 Qq 263–264