Question
I welcome the Government focusing prisons on rehabilitation, and on better education, training and support to help people turn their life around. I am particularly concerned about pregnant women leaving prison, many of whom have no secure accommodation, are vulnerable to being targeted by drug dealers and could even feel safer in prison than on the outside. How can we provide better support for pregnant women leaving prison?
Answer
My hon. Friend touches on an important question for his community and the country more generally. For anybody—particularly pregnant women—to leave prison with security, they must have access to housing; that is the anchor. We are taking incredible steps forward in this place to ensure that everybody is offered somewhere to be from night one, and through our emergency accommodation, we can offer up to 84 days of support. There is much to do, particularly with pregnant women, to make sure that the other support systems then wrap around them, to give them the best possible chance of staying out of prison.40% vibes
Verdict: AMBER (30/100)
The question asked how the Government will improve wrap-around support for pregnant women leaving prison. The reply only partly addresses this. It describes general measures, such as housing as a foundation for release and emergency accommodation with up to 84 days of support, but these are not specific to pregnant women. It accepts that there is much to do on support for pregnant women without setting out what will change or when, so a reader would likely need to ask again for specifics.
How we got there
| Question item | Coverage | Specificity | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| How the Government can provide better support for pregnant women leaving prison. | Partially Addressed | Hedged | The reply names concrete mechanisms, namely housing as the anchor for leaving prison and emergency accommodation offering up to 84 days of support, but these are not specific to pregnant women. Its statement that 'there is much to do' on wrap-around support for pregnant women acknowledges the gap without saying how the Government will improve support for them. |