Mr. Mark Wilson:

I will come back to the earlier point the Vice Chairman made in respect of people coming into prison with mental health or addiction issues. I mentioned we are in contact with 9,000 people in the community. Many of them have been in prison and, unless they make changes in their lives, many will end up in prison. At the outset, we need to make sure that those who have health issues should not come into the justice system at all, where possible. The approach of looking at diversion for minor drug offences or mental health issues is an appropriate way to do just that and to minimise those coming into the system at all.

The point in respect of mental health again reflects the similarity in the populations. We published a mental health survey earlier this year, which identified 40% of our client group as having mental health difficulties. It was 57% for women while the rate is 18% for the general population. Of those 40% I am discussing, half of that group also presented with an alcohol or drug addiction, difficult family relationships and accommodation instability. That speaks to the Vice Chairman's point on whether it is possibly a class-related issue that is impacting on the multiple complexity of issues the person is dealing with.

On women, again, the Prison Service and Probation Service have had a joint strategy on how we target and work more effectively with women. We are building on that and the review currently being carried out on female policy also looks at that area. It will make specific recommendations on how we might strengthen our approach in that area.