Women in custody

Welfare of women at court

Whilst at court, women will be treated by PECS suppliers in a manner that maintains an appropriate level of decency.

Within court custody suites women should be in separate cellular accommodation to men, ideally with separate toilet facilities.

Sanitary products and replacement underwear should always be accessible to women in custody, usually in the toilet area, without the need to ask for them.

There should always be at least one female prison custody officer (PCO) present.

Mothers and babies     

There may be instances where a mother, who resides on a prison mother and baby unit, is required to attend court and has no appropriate childcare arrangements.

Prisons should explore opportunities for attendance via prison video link with the court in the first instance, however, should she be required to attend in person the appropriate PECS contract delivery manager should be contacted to plan for the mother to attend with her baby.

PECS suppliers hold 3rd party contracts with nanny services, who can provide nannies who are fully trained, and background checked, who will care for the baby/child whilst the mother is in court.

Additional arrangements will be made on a case-by-case basis to determine how and where the mother and her baby is managed within the court dependent upon each specific court environment.

Mothers and their baby will always be transported in non-cellular vehicles, with the PECS supplier having responsibility to provide an appropriate baby/child seat.

Our suppliers will never treat a baby as if they were a prisoner, and the mother will always be responsible for the baby unless he/she is in the care of the nanny.

Pregnant women    

A pregnant woman will normally be transferred in a non-cellular vehicle by PECS suppliers, however cellular vehicles may be utilised should any serious risks or concerns be highlighted. Examples of serious risk could include escape or violence.

Where a woman declares herself pregnant whilst in a supplier’s care, it is good practise for medical assessment to be arranged through 3rd party healthcare arrangements whilst at court.

Should a pregnant woman be remanded into custody, the receiving prison should never refuse to accept her due to medical concerns.

In these circumstances the prison should receive her into custody for assessment by local healthcare practitioners (including GP).

Should this assessment conclude further treatment/assessment is required at hospital, the prison should arrange the escort.

Transport of women  

The PECS contract does allow for the transport of women on the same vehicles as men.

The likelihood of this is much higher when moving women to court from police custody, due to the overall volumes of prisoners being moved.

PECS vehicles are fitted with screens, and where operationally possible these should be used to minimise contact between men and women.

When transferring women between prisons, or between court and prison, the preferred approach is not to mix women and men.

This may not always be possible due to operational pressures, examples of which are:

• Geographically isolated courts with low volumes of prisoners remanded, where the utilisation of more than one vehicle cannot be justified.  
• Wider estate capacity pressures, requiring the redirection of large volumes of prisoners, which in turn reduces the number of available vehicles to move women separately. 

There should always be at least one female PCO available to escort female prisoners on journeys. If this is not possible for operational reasons, the supplier should inform the appropriate contract delivery manager within 24 hours.

The PECS contracts are tailored to ensure that women are not disproportionately disadvantaged as a result of the geographically dispersed nature of the female prison estate.

The contract stipulates that a minimum of 90% of women remanded into custody should begin their journey to prison within 2 hours of receiving a court outcome. 

Additionally, a minimum of 90% of those journeys should be a duration of less than 3 hours.

Capacity/timing lockouts

Where a woman has been remanded into custody by the courts, HMPPS understands that prison is the most appropriate accommodation to support their needs.

In the event that the local female prison is full, women will be redirected to the nearest alternative prison and will never be temporarily located in police custody.

Similarly, for any reason where a women may be due to arrive at the prison from court after the latest reception time (prison reception times), PECS and HMPPS expect that prison to make arrangements to accept her.

Under these circumstances a women would never be temporarily located in police accommodation unless deemed operationally necessary by a regional operations manager acting with delegated authority of the prison group director.

Complex moves

There will be occasions where women in prison custody, with complex needs, require a move to court or another prison.

Prisons are encouraged to contact their local PECS Contract Delivery Manager as far in advance of these moves as possible.

Arrangements in conjunction with PECS suppliers and/or HMCTS can then be implemented to provide appropriate levels of support and/or security.

Medical needs

Healthcare provision is in place to manage women’s medical requirements whilst attending court.

Female prison estate

The dispersed nature of the women’s prison estate exaggerates these vulnerabilities and therefore prioritisation of women appearing in courts is urged where appropriate.

The responsible officer of the court shall be advised within 30 minutes of arriving at court if a prisoner is with a baby to encourage prioritisation of case listing.

The following points outline the operational and geographical pressures that can impact women adversely:

• There are only 12 prisons in the women’s estate, seven of which have a ‘reception’ function, serving the courts. There are no women’s prisons in Wales.
• PECS suppliers are required to commence a woman’s transfer to prison from court within two hours of her appearance concluding. The impact on supplier resources created by wider criminal justice issues, such as court capacity, prison capacity, and Operation Safeguard, can compound delays in turnaround times.
• The small number of women’s prisons and their dispersed geography mean that each serves a larger number of courts and police stations than their male counterparts.
• The resources available to transfer smaller numbers of women from many locations can be impacted by wider court redirections for both men and women, linked to prison capacity.
• Prison capacity issues cause delays where women are redirected from court to an alternative prison, owing to lack of space in the aligned prison.
• Women are much more likely than men to self-harm while in the custody of PECS suppliers. The distance from home and separation from children/family are key aggravating factors.
• Long journeys from court to prison, with little opportunity for a break, which are uncomfortable for anyone, disproportionately affect women who are menstruating, pregnant, have recently given birth or have any other medical issues that may require more frequent access to a bathroom. This represents a significant equalities issue.
• The average journey time for a woman transferring from court to prison is greater than a man’s.
• Women arriving late in prison have reduced access to some medical provision and cannot fully engage in first night induction processes.

There has been precedent set for implementing bespoke arrangements to improve conditions for women in certain circumstances, such as attending long trials with significant journeys required between the prison and court.

Although the temporary use of police accommodation for women is generally avoided, this may be appropriate to support a woman’s welfare and also ensure the efficiency of the trial.

Any arrangements of this nature would be well planned with appropriate supervision and support provided for women impacted.

Transgender prisoners

The management of transgender individuals who receive a custodial outcome at court must be carefully managed in accordance with the national HMPPS ‘Care and Management of Individuals who are Transgender’ Individuals policy framework.

If you require any assistance surrounding the allocation of transgender individuals from court, please contact your local PECS contract delivery manager.

Additionally, the HMPPS Transgender Team (HMPPStransgender@justice.gov.uk) can be contacted for advice and ongoing support when managing Transgender prisoners in custody.