On 18th July 2023, the Bishop of Bristol asked a question on the effects of custodial sentences on dependent children of prisoners and the results of a pilot scheme taking this into account in magistrates courts:
The Lord Bishop of Bristol: My Lords, following the response given to my right reverend friend the Bishop of Gloucester on 15 December 2021 about pre-sentence reports, can the Minister say what impact the pilot in 15 magistrates’ courts has had on the take-up, taking into account the devastating impact of parental imprisonment, when sentencing a primary carer?
Baroness Barran (Con): The work with the pre-sentence reports is being rolled out more widely. Your Lordships will agree that the fact that a woman before them is a mother feels like quite a basic thing that the courts should take into consideration, but that is not where we have stopped. We are looking at working more with women’s centres that can offer support, including residential women’s centres, and at the conditions in which women and babies can benefit from mother and baby units.
The Church of England in Parliament 
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