In 2009, the Ministry of Justice allocated over £15m to develop a range of services to divert women from custody – that is welcome (if funding is sustained) but it is loose change compared with the cost of keeping a growing number incarcerated at a price of £41,00 per year, per prisoner. If community-based punishment and a reduction in recidivism is to be achieved, that requires a proper investment with a view to the long-term savings not a cheap-rate move driven by cuts. Reducing the prison-building programme while offering inadequate community punishments and insufficient support to step through a door to a different life may put the public at risk, while exacerbating reoffending and setting penal reform back even further.

The Ministry of Justice press release says:

Today Justice Minister Maria Eagle announced a commitment to reduce women’s prison places by 400 before March 2012 so funding can be diverted for specialist services in the community. [...] The women’s community projects will offer courts a tough and credible alternative to short prison sentences. They will all tackle women’s needs in order to reduce their risk of further offending. Many of the projects will offer Community Payback work and supervision requirements as part of a Community Order, enabling women to address their offending behaviour in addition to being punished for their offence. These sentences can be more effective in cutting further offending.