The Corston Independent Funders’ Coalition is very pleased to note the new government’s commitment to the Corston report’s recommendations. Asked in Parliament on 20th July 2010 about the effectiveness of short prison sentences for women offenders, the new Prisons Minister, Crispin Blunt, replied:

Short sentences for men have proved pretty ineffective, and I think that short sentences for women are even more ineffective and deleterious. We support the conclusions of the Corston report, we are conducting an analysis of the effectiveness of different sentences as part of the current sentencing review, we are committed to reducing the number of women in prison, and a network of women-only community provision is being developed to support robust community sentences.