Policy Hub
On 3 December 2007, the New Economics Foundation (NEF) and the Prison Reform Trust (PRT) published a briefing (Measuring what matters: women in the criminal justice system) which finds that a radical new approach to how women in the criminal justice system are treated could save millions of pounds every year and be more effective at cutting crime. The briefing provides early indicators for ‘value for money’ evidence in support of Baroness Corston’s call for an end to the routine use of custodial sentences for women offenders who pose no risk to the public.
Initial findings to measure what matters for women and sentencing reveal that, for 2,000 women sentenced to prison in the UK for non-violent offences in 2005, sentencing those women to prison is likely to incur lifetime costs of £101.8 million, compared to £82.5 million if early non-custodial community-based interventions are used. The findings are published just days before the government is expected to publish its response to Baroness Corston’s review on the issue.
The briefing makes recommendations.