Committee publication · Correspondence · 14 July 2026
Correspondence from Jake Richards MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Sentencing, Josh MacAlister OBE MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families and Lord Timpson, Minister for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending, dated 8 July 2026: Children with parents in prison: launch of test and learn pilots
From: Justice Committee
Summary
Three government ministers inform the Justice Committee of a new programme launching test-and-learn pilots to improve identification and support for children affected by parental imprisonment. The pilots will trial data-matching approaches across local authorities and police forces, linking improved identification with peer support offers, running through 2027–28 to build evidence on effectiveness before potential scaling.
Key findings
- Children with parents in prison face multiple challenges but are not consistently identified or supported across government systems.
- Pilots will trial two different data-matching approaches working with targeted local authorities and police forces to link identification with support offers.
- Stakeholder engagement emphasised minimising stigma and ensuring support acceptance is voluntary and responsive to individual needs.
- Evidence-building phase runs through 2026–27 and 2027–28 to assess data strengths, limitations, and delivery model effectiveness before any future scaling.
- Work responds to a government manifesto commitment and draws on lived experience of children and families affected by parental imprisonment.
Tone
ProceduralTopics
criminal-justicechildren-and-familiesdata-sharingprisonssocial-support
Key actors
Andy Slaughter, Jake Richards MP, Josh MacAlister OBE MP, Lord Timpson OBE, Justice Select Committee
Notable line
“… children with a parent in prison can face a range of challenges, and yet they are not consistently identified or supported.”
Key Quotes
“This engagement has emphasised the importance of minimising stigma and ensuring that acceptance of support offered is voluntary and responsive to individual needs.”
“We are establishing a small number of innovation pilots which will, for the first time, test the feasibility of linking data across government to better recognise families affected by parental imprisonment.”
“We will use these pilots to build the evidence base on what works, including the strengths and 2 OFFICIAL limitations of the data and the effectiveness of different delivery models.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗