Taskforce to reduce number of women in prisons expected to launch next week
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The government is expected to announce the launch of a Women's Justice Board to reduce the number of women in prisons as soon as next week. It is a progressive approach to sentencing that went largely under the radar when it was first announced by the justice secretary at Labour's conference last year.
The idea is to reduce the number of women in prisons by intervening early, tackling the root causes of offending and focusing on alternatives to prison, including community sentences. Reeves to give statement following China visit - politics latest. Sky News understands that the members of the Women's Justice Board have now been selected and it includes experts in the criminal justice system, charities and government departments.
Lord Timpson, the prisons minister, will chair the justice board and it will sit inside the Ministry of Justice. Another notable member will be Lady Edwina Grosvenor, an aristocrat and philanthropist known for her pioneering work in the criminal justice system. Her charity Hope Street, partly funded by her own trust fund, offers a community alternative for women at risk of being imprisoned.
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