Question
asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the comments by Baroness Scotland of Asthal on 12 June (Official Report, col. 1628), whether they have made an assessment of the impact of imprisonment on the children of convicted offenders; whether they now have accurate data on children affected in this way; and, if not, when they expect to have this information.
Answer
Information about the children of prisoners is not held centrally and only estimates are available. We will shortly publish the findings from a review of offenders' children carried out jointly by the Department of Children, Schools and Families and the Ministry of Justice. This review has looked at the extent to which the children of prisoners have poorer outcomes and what should be done to ensure they are effectively supported. When we have the findings of this review and the Social Exclusion Task Force's forthcoming Families At Risk publication, we will consider what additional data is needed to take this forward.