This week at Justice Questions I asked the Prisons Minister if he would take steps to find out how many children have a parent in prison.

The Government doesn’t currently collect data on how many prisoners have dependent children. If we don’t know these children exist, they can’t be supported by services like Children Heard and Seen and may be at risk, with some fending for themselves at home or left in the hands of unsuitable adults.

While the Minister wasn’t in a position to provide this data, I was pleased to see him acknowledge that we do need to know the numbers. He’d clearly looked at what I’d said in Parliament, and in meetings with Ministers, before, and I think his commitment to doing the work involved is genuine.

I hope that I can report some progress soon.

Watch clip here.