I asked for the debate today because I am extremely concerned about the disconnect between the Government's stated aims and policy on alternatives to prison, to which I am very committed, and the lack of sustainable and increased funding for the network of organisations that could help the Government achieve their long-term aim.

I have long felt that it is a national disgrace that we jail more women than any other country in the western world. The number of women in jail is increasing more quickly than that for men, yet the offences women commit are often petty, small in nature, requiring short sentences. In the past decade, the number of women entering prison has increased by 44%. The rise is not driven by an increase in criminality among women but by the courts, increasingly sentencing women to jail for minor crimes. My focus today is on the funding for women's centres, the one-stop shops, which provide a cheaper and often more effective rehabilitative outcome as an alternative to prison for women.
House of Commons / 11 May 2011 : Column 484WH