At the end of May 2003, 1,046 women were held on remand . They accounted for almost a quarter (23 per cent) of the total female prison population

One in five women on remand are acquitted altogether.

Women on remand is one of the fastest growing groups within the prison population with a 35 per cent increase in numbers between 2000 and 2002.

Over half (58 per cent) of women remanded into custody do not subsequently receive a custodial sentence.

In 2001, 11,900 women were received into custody; 4,600 under sentence and 7,200 on remand. Thus, while remand prisoners comprised a fifth (21 per cent) of the average female population during 2001, they made up nearly two-thirds (61 per cent) of the women who entered prison custody that year.

40 per cent of women on remand have received help or treatment for a mental health problem in the year before imprisonment. Remanded women are twice as likely as sentenced women to have been admitted previously to a locked ward or secure unit.

Almost half (45 per cent) of women received into prison on remand in 2001 were there for theft or fraud.

More than forty per cent of women on remand have attempted suicide before entering prison.

The average time women spend in custody awaiting trial is 39 days.

Each year up to 17,000 children are separated from their mothers by imprisonment.

Forthcoming Women on Remand Report
Research to be published by the Prison Reform Trust later this year will highlight the conditions and issues faced by women on remand. The study, supported by the Open Door Women’s Trust, will reveal that access to bail information is dependent on where a woman is imprisoned and that justice for these women is a postcode lottery.

Prison Service regulations (PSO 610) state that each prison that holds prisoners on remand is mandated to provide a Bail Information Scheme. The role of Bail Information Officers is to gather evidence to show that the accused can safely be released on bail.

The Prison Reform Trust study will show that the proportion of remanded women who were interviewed by a bail information officer ranged from 94 per cent in Styal prison and 90 per cent in Low Newton to none in Brockhill and Holloway. Women in HMP Holloway, which holds the highest number of women on remand, are the least likely to be interviewed.

The study reveals that the failure of the Prison Service to achieve the provision of bail information at the same standard set by Styal has cost the Service over £1.6m over six months (calculation on the basis of 426 prisoners for 39 days at a cost of £95 per day).

It concludes that continuing to hold women in prisons that lack an effective, fully functioning bail information scheme may breach their human rights as it amounts to arbitrary detention.The report will make the following recommendations:

• The Government and Judiciary must recognise that a significant reduction in the use of remand is vital and possible. As the majority of women on remand do not go on to receive a prison sentence, they should not be imprisoned in the first place.
• Children and young people, under 18 years old, should never be remanded into Prison Service custody.
• Increased provision of mental health services and drug treatment in the community would clearly have a beneficial impact on the women’s remand population.
• The needed increase in suitable places for women in bail hostels should be provided by small, local centres which are able to meet the needs of women who come into contact with the criminal justice system. Bail hostels should develop greater provision for support (particularly in drug treatment and mental health) as a way of improving service and increasing occupancy rates.
• All courts should have full-time bail information staff. All prisons holding women on remand should have a fully functioning bail information scheme. The use of bail support in female prison establishments should be expanded.
• First night in custody arrangements should be extended to all prisons, with no restrictions put in place regarding how many times a person has been in prison previously.