Alternative to imprisoning women to be sited in Wales

The news that the first rehabilitation centre for women convicted of low-level crime south of the border (the Scottish justice minister has taken a slightly different approach) is to be sited in Wales is to be welcomed. However, there will need to be more than one such centre in order to cope with the physical separation of the regions in Wales. It is important that contact is maintained with families, one of the main objections to sending Welsh women to prison in such facilities as Styal prison in Cheshire. Setting up one single facility for the whole of Wales in, say, the valleys region will make no difference to families in north, mid or even far west Wales.