Corston Report And Childcare Resettlement Leave

EDM number 1206 in 2006-07, proposed by Lynne Jones on 22/03/2007.

That this House welcomes the publication of the Corston Report but notes with great concern that Prison Service Order (PSO) 6300, which came into force in January 2006 and sets out new arrangements for Release on Temporary Licence (ROTL), more than halves the time that prisoners who are primary carers (and who have been risk assessed) are allowed to spend visiting their children at home, from a maximum of four nights in every 28 days to just three nights in every two months under childcare resettlement leave; believes that this policy change, which disproportionately affects women, was not evidence-based and is diametrically opposed to the conclusions and recommendations of the Corston Report; further notes that 18,000 children are separated from their mothers by imprisonment each year but only nine per cent. are cared for by their fathers while their mothers are in prison; welcomes the forthcoming review of PSO 6300 and ROTL and urges the Government to reverse the reduction in childcare resettlement leave in order to help strengthen family ties and foster responsible and caring parenting, improve the mental health and behaviour of prisoners and to benefit the children of prisoners with regard to their happiness, emotional needs, welfare and education, thereby helping them to achieve their full potential; and further believes that such a policy change would signal the Government's willingness to adopt a more holistic, woman-centred approach to women in the Criminal Justice System as recommended by the Corston Report.

This motion has been signed by a total of 7 MPs.