Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill

182A: After Clause 120, insert the following new Clause— ““Women’s Justice Strategy Commission (1) There shall be body known as the Women’s Justice Strategy Commission for England and Wales (““the Commission””). (2) The Commission shall consist of no less than 10 and no more than 20 members appointed by the Secretary of State. (3) The members of the Commission— (a) shall include persons representative of government departments and public bodies whose responsibilities have relevance to the treatment of female offenders and the prevention of offending by women (including, but not limited to, responsibilities for criminal justice, housing, education, employment, benefits, social services and health services), and (b) shall work with specialists who have the experience and knowledge to provide the necessary expert advice. (4) The Commission shall have the following functions, namely— (a) to develop a strategy to reduce offending by women and for the delivery of appropriate and effective services to women in the criminal justice system, (b) to monitor the extent to which the aims of that strategy are being met, (c) to set standards with respect to the specification, commissioning and provision of services to women in the criminal justice system and services to reduce offending by women, (d) to make grants, with the approval of the Secretary of State, to bodies to enable them to develop good practice in the provision of services to women in the criminal justice system and the prevention of offending by women. (5) The Commission shall provide an annual report to Parliament relating to its discharge of the functions specified in subsection (4).””