3 Conclusion
32. Overall,
we believe that positive steps are being made in meeting the needs
of women offenders, and we welcome the Minister's personal determination
to reduce the women's prison population and improve and increase
the programmes of support available to female offenders to help
them take responsibility and improve their lives. The greater
energy with which the Government has begun to address the issue
of women offenders needs to be sustained and continued by the
next Government: this applies to matters such as reliable funding
of women's centres, the effectiveness of rehabilitative provision
for women by Community Rehabilitation Companies, and the potential
of smaller custodial units. We want to see more effective provision
for women offenders, making it possible for there to be a substantial
fall in the women's prison population in the coming months and
years. We recommend
that our successor Committee in the next Parliament continue to
monitor this subject closely.
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