Charity claims jail stops females going straight

Many women's jails should be closed and their inmates moved into community programmes to help cut reoffending rates, a prison reform charity said today.

The Howard League for Penal Reform said there should be a planned closure programme for women's prisons because the system is failing to rehabilitate offenders.

Nearly two-thirds (64%) of women released from prison are reconvicted within two years compared to under half (47%) of women following a community sentence, the campaign group pointed out.

The charity urged the government to transfer resources to community programmes and treatment facilities for the 4,613 female prisoners in England and Wales.

It also warned that with the total prison population now at a record high of over 78,000, jail overcrowding in men's prisons was having a detrimental knock on effect on female inmates.

Plans to convert two women's prisons - Bullwood Hall in Essex and Brockhill in Worcestershire - into men's prisons have resulted in women being moved around the country, interrupting their sentence plans, according to the charity.

A review of women prisoners by Baroness Corston is underway, following the death of six inmates at Styal prison, near Wilmslow, Cheshire, between August 2002 and August 2003. Forty two women have taken their own lives in prison since 2002.

Howard League director Frances Crook said: "We hope that the current review being conducted by Baroness Corston will provide the impetus for the government to think radically about reducing the women's prison population, so that only those very few women who do pose a danger to the public remain in custody.

"The vast majority can be managed safely in the community where they can make amends for their reoffending and help to heal the damage done by crime directly with victims or with the wider community."

A Home Office spokesman said: "We are aware that there are people in prison who ought not to be there, including 10,000 foreign nationals, those with mental health issues and vulnerable women. We have outlined our intention to remove these where appropriate, and to use tough community sentences to deal with less serious, non-violent offenders.

"Custody will remain appropriate for women who are serious or persistent offenders. However, the government is keen to encourage greater use of community alternatives for women wherever possible."

Women and girls are held in 15 prisons in England and Wales. The women's prison population increased by 147% from an average of 1,811 in 1994 to 4,449 in 2004, according to the Howard League.