The All Party Parliamentary Group on Women in the Penal System says funding cuts are a "challenge" and the coalition must support women in the penal system.

London magistrates are sending more women to prison for short periods than any other area in England and Wales, the Howard League for Penal Reform revealed today.

The Howard League for Penal Reform has today (Monday 12 July 2010) supported a detailed briefing by Napo, the probation officers' union, which outlines why the "bureaucratic" and "wasteful" National Offender Management Service (NOMS) should be scrapped by the new government.