Number of Welsh women in prison rises again, despite plan to bring the numbers down

Martin Shipton

The number of Welsh female prisoners increased for the fourth consecutive year in 2024, new analysis shows.

Despite repeated commitments to reduce the number of Welsh women in prison, the number of women handed immediate custodial sentences in Wales reached its highest level in 2024 since the outbreak of Covid-19. Women handed sentences of one month or less at courts in Wales also rose by a further 51% last year.

The latest Factfile from Cardiff University’s Wales Governance Centre shows that the number of women in Wales remanded at the magistrates’ court increased by 25% in 2024. In total, 555 women were remanded into custody at either the magistrates’ court (350) or Crown Court (205) in Wales last year

In September, following years of campaigning by report author Dr Robert Jones, the Ministry of Justice published its first publicly available sets of Wales-specific prisoner data. This report from Cardiff University contains analysis of that data, alongside additional figures obtained via the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Dr Jones, based at the University’s School of Law and Politics said: “This analysis shows that 2024 was another difficult year for prisons in Wales. Despite the many promises and pledges to help divert women from the criminal justice system and promote the use of alternatives to custody, the number of Welsh female prisoners continues to rise. Six years on since the Women’s Justice Blueprint was first introduced, the data presented in this latest Factfile raise urgent and important questions over the need for a renewed or radically different approach in Wales.”

The report also highlights that those from minority ethnic backgrounds in Wales are once again over-represented at different stages of the criminal justice system in Wales. Individuals from an ethnic minority in Wales are more likely to be remanded in custody, sentenced to longer prison terms, and required to serve a higher proportion of their sentence in prison.

Other findings show:

* There were 2,227 people released from Welsh prisons under the Ministry of Justice’s SDS40 early release scheme between September 2024 and March 2025;

* The number of those released from Welsh prisons without a fixed address to return to increased by 34% in 2024;

* A total of 560 prison leavers managed by Welsh probation services were rough sleeping on the day of their release in 2024/25;

* There were a record number (21) of deaths across the Welsh prison estate in 2024, 17 of which were recorded at HMP Parc;

* Prisoner-on-prisoner assaults (2%), assaults on staff (22%), and self-harm incidents (11%) all increased across the Welsh prison estate in 2024.

Self harm

Dr Jones added: “By continuing to ask searching and far-reaching questions about the operation of the system in Wales, this latest report once again contributes to political, academic and public debates on criminal justice. The need for a serious and sustained discussion over the current and future state of the Welsh system cannot be overstated – particularly amidst rising levels of self-harm in Welsh prisons, the continuing use of short-term sentences, further increases in the use of remand, entrenched racial disproportionality, and yet another year where Wales tops western Europe’s imprisonment charts.”

The Female Offending Blueprint for Wales, launched jointly by the Ministry of Justice and the Welsh Government in 2019 and most recently updated in 2022, includes amongst its aspirations: “Integrate services to offer targeted support for women, from start to finish, recognising the far-reaching, long-term impact resulting from the imprisonment of women when there are more effective alternatives to tackle the causes of offending behaviour drawing on relevant research and data.”

It commends a “whole-system approach” intended to focus on:

* Early Intervention and Prevention. In addition to working with partners to tackle root causes of crime, diverting women, where appropriate, away from crime and into women-centred, community-based, sustainable support services that meet their needs. Explore options for trauma-informed services which can best meet the needs of vulnerable women, and families, affected by Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and at risk of entering the system, learning from the Enhanced Case Management (ECM) approach.

* Courts and Sentencing. Building confidence in alternatives to short-term custody and remand by working with courts and sentencers to build a clearer understanding of community services available to directly tackle causes of offending. Training front-line professionals to recognise and respond to women and families experiencing trauma.

* Community-based solutions. Supporting women, including those at risk of offending, to engage with services in the community by exploring a range of options for secure, safe and reliable accommodation for women in Wales; developing women-focussed services, including meaningful working relationships with a trusted key professional, building strengths and recognising the trauma or adverse events women may have experienced, understanding and addressing how this relates to their offending behaviour; embedding clear referral pathways and individualised, sequenced plans for vulnerable women in the community to provide interventions, by fully trained, skilled professionals in a timely manner.